Spring vs Spring Boot vs Spring MVC

Are you ready to dive into the exciting world of Java development? Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, this article is your gateway to mastering the top frameworks and technologies in Java development. We’ll explore the Spring framework, known for its versatility and lightweight nature, making it perfect for enterprise-level software. Discover Spring Boot, which streamlines application development and deployment, letting you focus on your business logic. Learn about Spring MVC, which helps you build robust and scalable web applications following the Model-View-Controller pattern.

Join us on this journey of Java development exploration, where clarity meets complexity, and expertise meets creativity!

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What is Spring?

Spring framework is employed in developing Java applications and provides a set of modular, reusable components specifically designed for enterprise-level software development. It is recognized for its lightweight characteristics and open-source attributes, it serves as a versatile solution, addressing various tasks including configuration management, data access, and security implementation. Additionally, it is a clean and modular design by facilitates the development of maintainable and scalable Java applications. It is widely used in both small and large-scale projects by offering a robust foundation for building various types of applications, including web, enterprise, and microservices, this spring framework also supports some other frameworks such as hibernate, tapestry, EJB, JSF, and Struts.

To know more about spring learn from here Spring

Key Features

1. Dependency Injection

• It allows the developers to implement Inversion of Control (IoC).
• It allows loose coupling, and flexibility, and facilitates the easier testing of objects.

2. Declarative Configuration

• It allows configuration through XML or annotations which provides a declarative approach for setting up application components
• It also helps in reducing boilerplate code.

3. Integrated Security

• It offers a security framework, authentication, authorization, and other security features.
• It gives a very simple way to build Java applications.

5. Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP)

• It separates the coding aspects concerns from the core business logic.
• It helps in modularizing concerns like logging, transactions, and security.

What is Spring Boot?

It is a framework that is designed to simplify the process of building and deploying production-ready applications. It also provides conventions and defaults for application setup and reduces the need for manual configuration. It is Java-based web, microservices, and enterprise applications that promote efficiency and allow developers to focus on business logic rather than infrastructure concerns which makes loosely coupled software applications so that modules are independent and further modifications become easier. It’s the top-notch choice of Java developers as it provides high security and vast community support to the developers.

To learn more about spring boots learn from here Spring Boot

Features

1. Opinionated Defaults

• It provides the pre-configured settings and sensible defaults.
• It helps in minimizing the need for extensive manual configuration.

2. Embedded Servers

• It supports embedded servers like Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow
• It allows the applications to run as standalone JARs and simplifies the deployment.

3. Spring Boot Starters

• They are ready-made templates that include dependencies, configuration, and accelerating the setup of common application features like web, data, and security.
• It automatically ensures that added dependencies are compatible and up-to-date.

4. Auto-Configuration

• Spring boot automatically configures the spring beans based on the dependencies in the individual classes.
• It reduces the need for explicit configuration of the application and boilerplate code.

5. Embedded Servers

• Spring boot supports various servers like Tomcat, Jetty, and Undertow.
• It ensures that your application is running smoothly as a standalone JAR by simplifying the deployment.

What is Spring MVC?

It helps in the development of web applications by considering the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. It offers a structured approach to the code design, also promoting the creation of robust and scalable web applications. The core of the Spring MVC Framework is the Dispatcher Servlet which helps in the functioning as the Front Controller by managing the incoming HTTP requests by directing them to the relevant controller.

Some annotations like @Controller and @RequestMapping, the framework that shows a clear structure. @Controller represents a class as a controller, while @RequestMapping represents web requests with corresponding methods in the Spring Controller. This pattern follows the MVC architecture:

• Model: It represents the encapsulation of the application data.
• View: It renders the model data and generates the HTML output for the client’s browser.
• Controller: It processes user requests and forwards them to the view for rendering the data in response data with some specified format.

To know more about the spring MVC framework learn from here Spring MVC

Features

1. MVC Architecture

• It follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern which promotes a modular and organized structure for building web applications.
• It provides a lot of in-built annotations which reduces the code length and helps to build scalable software applications.

2. Annotation-Based Configuration

• It supports the use of annotations for configuration which reduces the XML-based configuration.
• It makes the development more accurate.

3. Powerful Data Binding

• It has robust data binding capabilities which simplifies the handling of such formed data.
• It makes more easier to bind the incoming requests in a single unit within the Java objects.

4. Flexible Handler Mapping

• It maps incoming requests to the appropriate controller methods.
• It maps based on various criteria such as URL patterns, HTTP methods, headers, and parameters which provides flexibility in request handling.

Difference Between Spring, Spring Boot, and Spring MVC

Features	Spring	Spring Boot	Spring MVC
Purpose	It is a framework for Java EE development.	It process the deployment and development of the production-ready applications.	It serves as a web framework which is specifically designed for the construction of Java web applications which follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.
Configuration	It requires the extensive XML-based configuration.	It offers convention over configuration which reduces XML and manual configuration setup with some predefined configuration settings.	It is a typically annotation-based and simpler compared to the Spring.
Dependency Management	It does Manual dependency management but supports IoC through dependency injection.	It provides a set of predefined spring boot starters for common use cases and simplifying dependency management.	It has Spring IoC for the dependency injection.
Embedded Server	It requires external server such as Tomcat.	It supports the embedded servers like Tomcat, Jetty, etc. for standalone JAR deployment.	It is primarily used with the external servers, but can work also with embedded servers.
Development	It involves more boilerplate codes and configuration.	It reduces the boilerplate code and promotes rapid development with ease of the deployment.	It focuses on web development, handling HTTP requests and the responses efficiently.
Annotation Support	It has limited annotations with the more XML configuration.	It utilizes the annotations for configuration by reducing XML-based setup.	It strongly relies on the annotations for request mapping, model attributes for mapping with the databases, etc.
Flexibility	It offers high flexibility but it requires more effort in setup.	It provides the opinionated defaults, aiming for simplicity and the rapid development.	It is flexible for web application development and supports various view technologies.
Use Cases	It is suitable for large-scale enterprise applications having complex requirements.	It is ideal for quick development of standalone and microservices-based applications.	It is mainly used for the web applications and suitable for a wide range of projects.
Community Support	It have a established community support with vast resources.	Its strong community support having a focus on simplifying development.	It is well-supported specially in the web-development communities.
Security Features	It have complete security features but requires explicit configuration.	It offers security features and the Spring Security integration is common.	It provides security features but explicit configuration may be needed.
Microservices Support	It supports microservices but requires additional configuration.	It is built with microservices in mind, and simplifies the development process.	It is primarily used for monolithic applications which requires additional components for the microservices.
Ease of Testing	It involves more setup due to manual configuration.	It simplifies testing with embedded servers and convention-based setups.	Testing is a straightforward which is especially for JUnit and Mockito.
Community Updates	Their updates may be less frequent due to the large framework.	It have frequent updates and enhancements to keep up with the industry trends.	It gets regular updates mainly focused on web development advancements.
Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP)	It is a fundamental part of the framework.	It is supported but the priority is more on convention-based programming.	It is integrated and offers a way to modularize cross-cutting concerns.
RESTful Web Services	It can be used to build RESTful services but may involve more configuration.	It simplifies the development of RESTful services with Spring Boot starters.	It is suitable for building RESTful services with dedicated support system.

Must Read:

• Spring MVC vs Spring Web Flux: Top Differences
• Apache Tomcat vs Eclipse Jetty
• 10 Spring Boot Features That Make Java Development Easier

Conclusion

Therefore, the article highlights the key distinctions among frameworks such as Spring, Spring Boot, and Spring MVC, providing a detailed understanding of their features, community support, and dependency management. This knowledge is essential for gaining proficiency in various technologies, offering a thorough perspective on each framework. Moreover, for job seekers, the article provides valuable insights which is essential for interviews at corporations, and effectively navigates the recruitment processes. Additionally, it proves beneficial for university exams, serving as a resource for more in-depth learning through our associated tutorials. It is particularly useful for software developers and newcomers, which will guide them better in the construction of Java projects.