Difference Between @Component, @Repository,

@Service, and @Controller Annotations in Spring

Last Updated : 09 May, 2022

Spring Annotations are a form of metadata that provides data about a program.
Annotations are used to provide supplemental information about a program. It
does not have a direct effect on the operation of the code they annotate. It does not
change the action of the compiled program. Here, we are going to discuss the
difference between the 4 most important annotations in Spring, @Component,
@Repository, @Service, and @Controller.

@Component Annotation

@Component is a class-level annotation. It is used to denote a class as a

Component. We can use @Component across the application to mark the beans as
Spring’s managed components. A component is responsible for some operations.
Spring framework provides three other specific annotations to be used when
marking a class as a Component.

1. @Service
2. @Repository
3. @Controller
 To read more about @Component Annotation refer to the article Spring
@Component Annotation

A. @Service Annotation

In an application, the business logic resides within the service layer so we use the
@Service Annotation to indicate that a class belongs to that layer. It is a
specialization of @Component Annotation. One most important thing about the
@Service Annotation is it can be applied only to classes. It is used to mark the
class as a service provider. So overall @Service annotation is used with classes
that provide some business functionalities. Spring context will autodetect these
classes when annotation-based configuration and classpath scanning is used.

To read more about @Service Annotation refer to the article Spring @Service
Annotation

B. @Repository Annotation

@Repository Annotation is also a specialization of @Component annotation which

is used to indicate that the class provides the mechanism for storage, retrieval,
update, delete and search operation on objects. Though it is a specialization of
@Component annotation, so Spring Repository classes are autodetected by the
spring framework through classpath scanning. This annotation is a general-
purpose stereotype annotation which very close to the DAO pattern where DAO
classes are responsible for providing CRUD operations on database tables.

To read more about @Repository Annotation refer to the article Spring

@Repository Annotation

C. @Controller Annotation
Spring @Controller annotation is also a specialization of @Component annotation.
The @Controller annotation indicates that a particular class serves the role of a
controller. Spring Controller annotation is typically used in combination with
annotated handler methods based on the @RequestMapping annotation. It can be
applied to classes only. It’s used to mark a class as a web request handler. It’s
mostly used with Spring MVC applications. This annotation acts as a stereotype for
the annotated class, indicating its role. The dispatcher scans such annotated
classes for mapped methods and detects @RequestMapping annotations.

To read more about @Controller Annotation refer to the article Spring

@Controller Annotation

Similarity

One of the interesting queries that arise in front of a developer is, can
@Component, @Repository, @Service, and @Controller annotations be used
interchangeably in Spring or do they provide any particular functionality? In other
words, if we have a Service class and we change the annotation from @Service to
@Component, will it still behave the same way?

So in order to answer the same, it is with respect to scan-auto-detection and

dependency injection for BeanDefinition, all these annotations (@Component,
@Repository, @Service, and @Controller) are the same. We could use one in place
of another and can still get our way around.

By now it is made clear that @Component is a general-purpose stereotype

annotation indicating that the class is a spring component and @Repository,
@Service, and @Controller annotations are special types of @Component
annotation. Now let us finally conclude via plotting the difference table between
all annotation types to grasp a better understanding that is as follows:
@Service Annotation @Repository Annotation @Controller
Annotation

@Repository Annotation is used

@Service annotation is @Controller annotation
to indicate that the class
used with classes that indicates that a
provides the mechanism for
provide some business particular class serves
storage, retrieval, update, delete
functionalities. the role of a controller.
and search operation on objects.

@Service Annotation is @Controller annotation

@Repository Annotation is also
a specialization of is also a specialization
a specialization of @Component
@Component of @Component
Annotation.
Annotation. annotation.

It is used to mark the It is used to mark the interface as It’s used to mark a
class as a service DAO (Data Access Object) class as a web request
provider. provider. handler.

It is also a stereotype
It is a stereotype for the It is also a stereotype for the
for the presentation
service layer. DAO layer.
layer (spring-MVC).

We cannot switch this

Switch can be possible.
Switch can be possible. But it is annotation with any
But it is not
not recommended. other like @Service or
recommended.
@Repository.

It is a Stereotype It is also a Stereotype It is also a Stereotype

Annotation. Annotation. Annotation.

A Amiy…

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Difference Between ApplicationContext and Difference Between @Controller and
WebApplicationContext in Spring MVC @Service Annotation in Spring

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