What are Spring Annotations and how do I use them?

What are Spring Annotations and how do I use them?

Spring Annotations are metadata that provide information about the configuration and behavior of Spring components. They simplify the development process by allowing developers to define beans, inject dependencies, and configure aspects without extensive XML configuration.

Can you give me an example of a common Spring Annotation?

Sure! One common annotation is @Autowired, which is used for dependency injection. It allows Spring to automatically inject the required beans into your classes.

How do I create a custom annotation in Spring?

To create a custom annotation in Spring, you define an interface with the @interface keyword. You can then use it like any other annotation, and you can also specify retention policies and target types.

What is the difference between @Component, @Service, and @Repository?

@Component is a generic stereotype for any Spring-managed component. @Service is used for service layer components, while @Repository is used for data access components, providing additional features like exception translation.