Explain the difference between Spring and Spring Boot?

Category : Interview Questions | Sub Category : Spring Boot Interview Questions | By Prasad Bonam Last updated: 2023-08-04 00:27:49 Viewed : 306

Explain the difference between Spring and Spring Boot?

Lets explore the differences between Spring and Spring Boot with examples:

1. Configuration and Boilerplate Code:

   • Spring Example: In a traditional Spring application, you need to manually configure various components using XML-based configuration or Java-based configuration with annotations like @Configuration. For example, consider a simple Spring application with a data source and a bean for a service:

     javaCopy code
     // Java-based configuration
     @Configuration
     public class AppConfig {
         @Bean
         public DataSource dataSource() {
             // Configuration code for the data source
             return new DataSource();
         }
     
         @Bean
         public MyService myService() {
             // Configuration code for the service
             return new MyService();
         }
     }
     

   • Spring Boot Example: In Spring Boot, much of the configuration is handled automatically. You dont need to write explicit configuration for common components. For example, in the same scenario as above:

     javaCopy code
     // No need for explicit configuration in most cases
     public class MyService {
         // Service implementation
     }
     

   Spring Boot automatically configures the data source and other components based on the classpath and dependencies, reducing the need for boilerplate code.

2. Dependency Management:

   • Spring Example: In traditional Spring applications, you need to manage dependencies manually by specifying the required libraries in the pom.xml (if using Maven) or build.gradle (if using Gradle) file.

   • Spring Boot Example: Spring Boot introduces "starter" dependencies that simplify dependency management. You can include starters to add specific functionality to your application. For example, to build a web application with Spring MVC, you can use the spring-boot-starter-web starter. You only need to declare the starter in your pom.xml or build.gradle, and Spring Boot will manage the necessary dependencies.

     xmlCopy code
     <!-- Maven Example -->
     <dependency>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
     </dependency>
     

3. Embedded Servers:

   • Spring Example: In a traditional Spring application, you typically deploy your application to external application servers like Apache Tomcat or Jetty.

   • Spring Boot Example: Spring Boot comes with embedded servers like Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow. This means that your application can be packaged as a stand-alone JAR file, and the embedded server is included. You can run the application using the java -jar command, without requiring a separate server setup.

4. Simplified Development:

   • Spring Example: While Spring provides a powerful and flexible framework for building applications, setting up a Spring project can require more manual configuration, especially for new projects.

   • Spring Boot Example: Spring Boot simplifies the development process significantly. It offers an opinionated approach to configuration, sensible defaults, and auto-configuration, which allows developers to quickly get started with Spring projects. This example showcases the difference in development experience between Spring and Spring Boot.

5. Application Monitoring and Management:

   • Spring Example: In traditional Spring applications, if you want to enable features like application monitoring, health checks, and metrics, you need to set up various libraries and configurations manually.

   • Spring Boot Example: Spring Boot Actuator is a module that comes with Spring Boot and provides production-ready features for monitoring and managing applications. It automatically exposes various endpoints for monitoring, health, metrics, etc., with minimal configuration. For example, by adding the spring-boot-starter-actuator dependency, you can access the /actuator/health endpoint to check the health status of your application.

   These examples illustrate the key differences between Spring and Spring Boot, highlighting how Spring Boot simplifies the development process by reducing boilerplate code, managing dependencies, and providing out-of-the-box features for application monitoring and management.