Comparison of Topics: Spring vs Spring Boot
1. Introduction and Overview
Spring Framework:
- Introduction to Spring: Basics of the Spring Framework, understanding the need for Spring in enterprise applications.
- Core Concepts of Spring: Inversion of Control (IoC), Dependency Injection (DI), and Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP).
- History and Evolution of Spring: From Spring 1.x to Spring 5.x and beyond.
Spring Boot:
- Introduction to Spring Boot: Understanding how Spring Boot simplifies the Spring development process.
- Why Spring Boot: Benefits like convention over configuration, embedded servers, and rapid application development.
- Spring Boot vs. Spring Framework: When to use Spring Boot over traditional Spring.
2. Setup and Configuration
- Setting up Spring Project: Manual setup using XML and Java Config.
- Spring Beans and Configuration: XML-based and Annotation-based configuration.
- Dependency Management: Using Maven or Gradle to handle dependencies.
Spring Boot:
- Setting up Spring Boot Project: Using Spring Initializr (start.spring.io) to create a Spring Boot project.
- Auto-Configuration: How Spring Boot configures your application based on dependencies.
- Spring Boot Maven/Gradle Plugin: Automatic dependency management and project setup using Spring Boot’s conventions.
3. Core Components
Spring Framework:
- Spring IoC Container: Detailed explanation of Bean Factory, ApplicationContext, and Bean scopes.
- Spring AOP (Aspect-Oriented Programming): Introduction to AOP concepts and using Spring AOP for cross-cutting concerns.
- Spring JDBC and ORM: Using Spring for database interaction (JDBC, JPA, Hibernate).
- Spring MVC: The Model-View-Controller architecture and creating web applications with Spring MVC.
Spring Boot:
- Spring Boot Auto Configuration: How Spring Boot automatically configures your app’s settings.
- Embedded Servers: Working with embedded Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow.
- Spring Boot Profiles: Managing different environments (dev, prod) using profiles.
- Spring Boot Starter Projects: Pre-configured templates for building web, data, and other types of applications.
- Actuator: Monitoring and managing your Spring Boot application in production (health checks, metrics, etc.).
4. Web Development
- Spring MVC: Building RESTful web services, handling HTTP requests, and using controllers and views.
- Spring Security: Securing web applications using Spring Security.
- Form Handling and Validation: Binding form data and validation with JSR-303/JSR-380 (Bean Validation).
Spring Boot:
- Spring Boot for Web Development: Setting up REST APIs using Spring Boot.
- Embedded Tomcat/Jetty: Running web applications with embedded servers.
- Spring Boot Security: Simplified configuration for securing REST APIs and web apps.
- Spring Boot REST Services: Creating RESTful services with minimal configuration.
5. Data Access and Persistence
Spring Framework:
- Spring JDBC: Managing database connections and transactions using JDBC.
- Spring ORM: Integrating with ORM frameworks like Hibernate.
- Spring Data JPA: Simplifying data access through the use of Spring Data JPA and repositories.
Spring Boot:
- Spring Boot Data Access: Using Spring Boot with Spring Data JPA, Spring Data MongoDB, and other Spring Data modules.
- Embedded Databases: Using embedded databases like H2 for development and testing.
- Spring Boot Data Integration: Simplifying database connection setup and management with Spring Boot’s default configurations.
6. Microservices Architecture
Spring Framework:
- Spring Cloud: Building microservices using Spring Cloud for service discovery, configuration management, and load balancing.
- Spring Integration: Integrating microservices and external systems.
- Spring Messaging: Using JMS, AMQP, and Kafka with Spring for messaging-based communication.
Spring Boot:
- Microservices with Spring Boot: Creating lightweight microservices using Spring Boot.
- Spring Cloud with Spring Boot: Using Spring Boot for building scalable, fault-tolerant microservices in a distributed system.
- Spring Boot with Docker: Containerizing Spring Boot applications with Docker for easy deployment and scaling.
7. Testing
Spring Framework:
- Unit Testing with Spring: Using JUnit, Mockito, and Spring TestContext Framework for testing Spring beans.
- Integration Testing: Testing the interaction between components and database layers.
Spring Boot:
- Spring Boot Testing: Simplified testing with Spring Boot’s built-in support for unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests.
- Testing REST APIs: Using Spring Boot’s testing support for testing RESTful web services with tools like MockMvc.
8. Advanced Topics
Spring Framework:
- Spring Batch: Handling large volumes of data and batch processing.
- Spring Integration: Integrating with external systems and managing complex workflows.
- Spring WebFlux: Asynchronous programming with Spring WebFlux for building reactive applications.
Spring Boot:
- Spring Boot Customization: Customizing auto-configuration and writing custom Spring Boot starters.
- Spring Boot with Cloud Providers: Deploying Spring Boot applications to cloud services like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
- Spring Boot and Kubernetes: Deploying and managing Spring Boot applications in a Kubernetes environment.
9. Deployment and Monitoring
Spring Framework:
- Deploying Spring Applications: Deploying Spring applications to external containers like Tomcat or JBoss.
- Application Monitoring: Using tools like Spring Insight for application performance monitoring.
Spring Boot:
- Deploying Spring Boot Applications: Deploying applications as standalone JARs or WARs (to be deployed on external servers or as cloud-native applications).
- Monitoring with Spring Boot Actuator: Using Spring Boot’s built-in actuator for monitoring, health checks, and metrics.
10. Conclusion and Best Practices
Spring Framework:
- Best Practices in Spring: Design patterns, coding best practices, and performance optimization in Spring applications.
- Security Considerations: Best practices for securing Spring applications.
Spring Boot:
- Spring Boot Best Practices: Configuring Spring Boot for optimal performance and scalability.
- Optimizing Spring Boot Applications: Techniques for improving Spring Boot startup times, memory usage, and performance.
Summary of Key Differences:
-
Spring Framework focuses on a comprehensive approach to building Java-based applications with a wide range of features, including AOP, IoC, MVC, and more. It requires more configuration and setup, particularly in terms of XML or annotation-based configurations.
-
Spring Boot, on the other hand, is designed for rapid development with less configuration. It eliminates the need for complex XML-based configuration and provides default setups for most common features (e.g., embedded servers, data access, etc.), making it ideal for microservices and cloud-native applications.
Institute of Computer Training – ICT