Spring and Spring Boot are both frameworks for building Java-based enterprise applications, but they serve different purposes and have some key differences. Here are 20 differences between Spring and Spring Boot:
1. Purpose:
- Spring: A comprehensive framework for developing Java-based enterprise applications.
- Spring Boot: A tool built on top of the Spring framework to simplify the development of production-ready applications.
2. Configuration:
- Spring: Requires extensive XML configuration for setting up the application.
- Spring Boot: Promotes convention over configuration, significantly reducing the need for XML configuration through sensible defaults.
3. Dependency Management:
- Spring: Developers need to manage dependencies manually.
- Spring Boot: Uses a dependency management system, making it easier to manage and update dependencies.
4. Ease of Setup:
- Spring: Requires more manual setup and configuration.
- Spring Boot: Designed for rapid development with minimal setup, thanks to defaults and auto-configuration.
5. Embedded Server:
- Spring: Needs an external server (e.g., Tomcat) to deploy the application.
- Spring Boot: Comes with an embedded server (e.g., Tomcat, Jetty) for easier deployment and testing.
6. Packaging:
- Spring: Requires manual packaging of applications.
- Spring Boot: Provides an embedded container and simplifies packaging, allowing for the creation of self-contained JARs.
7. Annotation-based Configuration:
- Spring: Utilizes a mix of XML and annotations for configuration.
- Spring Boot: Emphasizes annotation-based configuration, reducing the reliance on XML.
8. Default Configurations:
- Spring: Requires explicit configuration for various features.
- Spring Boot: Comes with sensible defaults and auto-configuration, reducing the need for explicit setup.
9. Convention over Configuration:
- Spring: Follows a more explicit configuration approach.
- Spring Boot: Promotes convention over configuration, reducing the amount of boilerplate code.
10. Project Structure:
- Spring: Developers need to define the project structure.
- Spring Boot: Follows a predefined project structure, allowing for quicker development.
11. Externalized Configuration:
- Spring: Configuration is often scattered in different files.
- Spring Boot: Supports externalized configuration through properties files, YAML, environment variables, etc.
12. Monitoring and Metrics:
- Spring: Developers need to integrate monitoring and metrics tools manually.
- Spring Boot: Comes with built-in support for monitoring and metrics.
13. Microservices:
- Spring: Supports microservices but requires manual configuration.
- Spring Boot: Designed with microservices in mind, making it easier to create and deploy microservices.
14. CLI (Command Line Interface):
- Spring: Lacks a dedicated CLI.
- Spring Boot: Includes a CLI for quickly building and testing Spring applications from the command line.
15. Embedded Database Support:
- Spring: Supports embedded databases but requires additional configuration.
- Spring Boot: Comes with embedded database support out of the box.
16. Spring Initializr:
- Spring: Developers set up projects manually.
- Spring Boot: Offers Spring Initializr, a web-based tool for quickly generating and configuring Spring Boot projects.
17. Version Compatibility:
- Spring: Developers need to ensure compatibility between different Spring modules.
- Spring Boot: Manages version compatibility between Spring modules, simplifying the development process.
18. Externalized Properties:
- Spring: Developers need to handle externalized properties manually.
- Spring Boot: Simplifies externalized property management with a variety of sources (e.g., application.properties, application.yml).
19. Auto-Configuration:
- Spring: Requires explicit configuration for many features.
- Spring Boot: Employs auto-configuration to automatically set up the application based on the dependencies present in the classpath.
20. Community and Ecosystem:
- Spring: A mature and extensive ecosystem with a wide range of projects and community support.
- Spring Boot: Leverages the Spring ecosystem but is tailored for rapid development, with a growing and active community.
These differences highlight how Spring and Spring Boot cater to different development needs, with Spring Boot aiming to streamline the development process by providing sensible defaults and conventions.