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How these annotation works in Spring

@Component , @Controller , @Service @ Repository

I have provided the original documentation by Oracle for

these annotations further to understand the basics here we explain

Technically @Controller, @Service, @Repository are all same. All of them extends @Components.

From Spring source code:

Indicates that an annotated class is a "component". Such classes are considered as candidates for auto-detection when using annotation-based configuration and classpath scanning.

We can directly use @Component for each and every bean, but for better understanding and maintainability of a large application, we use @Controller, @Service, @Repository.

Purpose of each annotation:

1) @Controller -> Classes annotated with this, are intended to receive a request from the client side. The first request comes to the Dispatcher Servlet, from where it passes the request to the particular controller using the value of @RequestMapping annotation.

2) @Service -> Classes annotated with this, are intended to manipulate data, that we receive from the client or fetch from the database. All the manipulation with data should be done in this layer.

3) @Repository -> Classes annotated with this, are intended to connect with database. It can also be considered as DAO(Data Access Object) layer. This layer should be restricted to CRUD (create, retrieve, update, delete) operations only. If any manipulation is required, data should be sent be send back to @Service layer.

If we interchange their place(use @Repository in place of @Controller), our application will work fine.

The main purpose of using three different @annotations is to provide better Modularity to the Enterprise application.

Annotation Type Component

@Target(value=TYPE)

@Retention(value=RUNTIME)

@Documented

@Indexed

public @interface Component

Indicates that an annotated class is a "component". Such classes are considered as candidates for auto-detection when using annotation-based configuration and classpath scanning.

Other class-level annotations may be considered as identifying a component as well, typically a special kind of component:

e.g. the @Repository annotation or AspectJ's @Aspect annotation.

Annotation Type Repository

@Target(value=TYPE)

@Retention(value=RUNTIME)

@Documented

@Component

public @interface Repository

Indicates that an annotated class is a "Repository", originally defined by Domain-Driven Design (Evans, 2003) as "a mechanism for encapsulating storage, retrieval, and search behavior which emulates a collection of objects".

Teams implementing traditional Java EE patterns such as "Data Access Object" may also apply this stereotype to DAO classes, though care should be taken to understand the distinction between Data Access Object and DDD-style repositories before doing so. This annotation is a general-purpose stereotype and individual teams may narrow their semantics and use as appropriate.

A class thus annotated is eligible for Spring DataAccessException translation when used in conjunction with a PersistenceExceptionTranslationPostProcessor. The annotated class is also clarified as to its role in the overall application architecture for the purpose of tooling, aspects, etc.

As of Spring 2.5, this annotation also serves as a specialization of @Component, allowing for implementation classes to be autodetected through classpath scanning.

Since:

2.0

Author:

Rod Johnson, Juergen Hoeller

See Also:

Component, Service, DataAccessException, PersistenceExceptionTranslationPostProcessor

Annotation Type Service·

@Target(value=TYPE)

@Retention(value=RUNTIME)

@Documented

@Component

public @interface Service

Indicates that an annotated class is a "Service", originally defined by Domain-Driven Design (Evans, 2003) as "an operation offered as an interface that stands alone in the model, with no encapsulated state."

May also indicate that a class is a "Business Service Facade" (in the Core J2EE patterns sense), or something similar. This annotation is a general-purpose stereotype and individual teams may narrow their semantics and use as appropriate.

This annotation serves as a specialization of @Component, allowing for implementation classes to be autodetected through classpath scanning.

Annotation Type Controller

@Target(value=TYPE)

@Retention(value=RUNTIME)

@Documented

@Component

public @interface Controller

Indicates that an annotated class is a "Controller" (e.g. a web controller).

This annotation serves as a specialization of @Component, allowing for implementation classes to be autodetected through classpath scanning. It is typically used in combination with annotated handler methods based on the RequestMapping annotation.