Important Spring Annotations

Comprehensive List of Spring Annotations by Categories

Spring offers a vast array of annotations across its modules. Below is a
categorized list covering core, MVC, data access, AOP, and other key areas of
Spring.

1. Core Annotations

Annotation Purpose

@Component
Marks a class as a Spring-managed component. Generic stereotype for
Spring beans.
@Service Specialization of @Component , used for service-layer beans.

Specialization of @Component , used for data access and exception

@Repository
translation.
@Configuration Marks a class as a source of Spring bean definitions.
@Bean Declares a bean in a @Configuration class.
@Autowired Automatically wires dependencies by type.

Used with @Autowired to resolve ambiguity when multiple beans of the

@Qualifier
same type exist.

Indicates the primary bean to use when multiple beans of the same
@Primary
type exist.
@Scope Defines the scope of a bean ( singleton , prototype , etc.).
@Lazy Specifies lazy initialization for a bean.
@Value Injects values from property files or environment variables.
@PostConstruct Indicates a method to be executed after bean initialization.
@PreDestroy Indicates a method to be executed before bean destruction.
@EventListener Handles Spring application events.
@PropertySource Specifies the location of property files.

2. Spring MVC Annotations

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 Annotation Purpose
@Controller Marks a class as a Spring MVC controller.

Combines @Controller and @ResponseBody . Used for RESTful web

@RestController
services.
@RequestMapping Maps HTTP requests to handler methods or classes.
@GetMapping Shortcut for @RequestMapping with GET method.

@PostMapping Shortcut for @RequestMapping with POST method.

@PutMapping Shortcut for @RequestMapping with PUT method.

@DeleteMapping Shortcut for @RequestMapping with DELETE method.

@PatchMapping Shortcut for @RequestMapping with PATCH method.

@RequestParam Binds query parameters to method arguments.
@PathVariable Binds URL path variables to method arguments.
@RequestBody Maps the request body to a method argument.
@ResponseBody Maps the return value of a method to the HTTP response body.
@ModelAttribute Binds a model attribute to a method parameter or return value.
@SessionAttributes Specifies attributes to store in the HTTP session.

@CrossOrigin
Enables Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) for RESTful
services.
@ExceptionHandler Handles exceptions thrown by controller methods.
@InitBinder Customizes data binding for request parameters.
@ControllerAdvice A global exception handler for all controllers.

3. Data Access Annotations (Spring Data)

Annotation Purpose
@Transactional Marks a method or class to participate in a transaction.
@PersistenceContext Injects a JPA EntityManager .

@Repository
Marks a class as a DAO component with exception
translation.
@Query Defines custom queries in Spring Data repositories.

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 @Modifying Marks a query method as an update or delete operation.
@EnableJpaRepositories Enables scanning of JPA repositories.
@NamedQuery Defines a named query at the entity level.
@EnableTransactionManagement Enables annotation-driven transaction management.
@Id Marks a field as the primary key in JPA.
@GeneratedValue Specifies the generation strategy for primary keys.
@Entity Marks a class as a JPA entity.
@Table Specifies the database table for a JPA entity.
@Column Specifies the mapping of a field to a database column.

4. Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) Annotations

Annotation Purpose
@Aspect Marks a class as an aspect for defining cross-cutting concerns.
@Before Defines advice to run before a method execution.
@After Defines advice to run after a method execution.
@Around Defines advice that wraps around a method execution.
@AfterReturning Defines advice to run after a method returns successfully.
@AfterThrowing Defines advice to run after a method throws an exception.
@Pointcut Declares reusable pointcut expressions.

5. Scheduling and Async Annotations

Annotation Purpose
@Scheduled Schedules tasks to run periodically or at specific times.
@EnableScheduling Enables scheduling support in the application.
@Async Marks a method to be executed asynchronously.
@EnableAsync Enables asynchronous processing in the application.

6. Spring Boot-Specific Annotations

Important Spring Annotations 3

 Annotation Purpose

Combines @Configuration ,
@SpringBootApplication
@EnableAutoConfiguration , and @ComponentScan .

@EnableAutoConfiguration Enables Spring Boot’s auto-configuration feature.

Combines @Controller and @ResponseBody for

@RestController
RESTful APIs.

Enables configuration based on the presence of a

@ConditionalOnProperty
specific property.

Configures a bean only if a specific bean is not already

@ConditionalOnMissingBean
defined.

Injects properties from configuration files or

@Value
environment variables.
@EnableConfigurationProperties Binds configuration properties to POJOs.

7. Security Annotations
Annotation Purpose
@EnableWebSecurity Enables Spring Security for the application.
@Secured Specifies role-based security for methods.
@PreAuthorize Adds pre-authorization checks to methods.
@PostAuthorize Adds post-authorization checks to methods.
@RolesAllowed Specifies allowed roles for accessing a method.

8. Cloud and Microservices Annotations

Annotation Purpose
@EnableDiscoveryClient Enables service discovery for Spring Cloud applications.

Declares a Feign client for HTTP-based microservice

@FeignClient
communication.
@EnableCircuitBreaker Enables circuit breaker functionality.
@HystrixCommand Annotates methods with fallback mechanisms for resilience.

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 Refreshes bean definitions at runtime when configuration
@RefreshScope
changes.

9. Testing Annotations
Annotation Purpose
@SpringBootTest Loads the full Spring context for integration testing.
@WebMvcTest Focuses testing on Spring MVC components (e.g., controllers).
@MockBean Creates mock beans in the Spring context.
@TestConfiguration Defines test-specific configuration classes.
@DataJpaTest Tests JPA repositories with an in-memory database.

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