Spring Bean Scope

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A bean is simply a Spring-managed component or object.

It is an instance of a Java class that is instantiated, configured, and managed by the Spring IoC (Inversion of Control) container. Beans are the fundamental building blocks of a Spring application.

  • The singleton scope is the default scope in Spring.
  • The Gang of Four defines Singleton as having one **instance per ClassLoader **.
    • in their book Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, ensures that a class has only one instance and provides a global point of access to it. -
  • However, Spring singleton is defined as one instance of bean definition per container.
    • In the Spring Framework, a singleton bean is defined as a bean that is instantiated only once per Spring IoC container.
    • This means that within a single container, there will be only one instance of a bean definition.

Key characteristics of Spring beans:

Managed by Spring Container: Beans are managed by the Spring IoC container, which handles their lifecycle, configuration, and dependencies.

Configurable: Beans can be configured using various mechanisms provided by Spring, such as XML-based configuration, Java-based configuration, or annotation-based configuration.

Singleton by Default: By default, beans are singletons in the Spring context, meaning that the Spring container creates only one instance of each bean and shares it throughout the application.

Dependency Injection: Beans can be injected with dependencies, either through constructor injection, setter injection, or field injection. This allows for loose coupling between components and facilitates easier testing and maintenance.

Scopes: Spring beans can have different scopes, such as singleton, prototype, request, session, etc., which define the lifecycle and visibility of bean instances.

Overall, beans in Spring provide a flexible and powerful way to manage components and their dependencies in a Spring application, promoting modularity, reusability, and maintainability.

Bean Scope

Singleton Scope:

Singleton scope is the default scope in Spring, where only one instance of the bean is created and shared throughout the application context.

   @Component
   public class SingletonBean {
       // Bean definition
   }

Prototype Scope:

Prototype scope instructs the Spring IoC container to create a new instance of the bean whenever it is requested.

   @Component
   @Scope("prototype")
   public class PrototypeBean {
       // Bean definition
   }

Request Scope:

Request scope is used in web-based applications, where a new instance of the bean is created once per HTTP request.

   @Component
   @Scope(value = WebApplicationContext.SCOPE_REQUEST, proxyMode = ScopedProxyMode.TARGET_CLASS)
   public class RequestScopedBean {
       // Bean definition
   }

Session Scope:

Session scope is tied to the HTTP session lifecycle, with a new instance of the bean created once per HTTP session.

   @Component
   @Scope(value = WebApplicationContext.SCOPE_SESSION, proxyMode = ScopedProxyMode.TARGET_CLASS)
   public class SessionScopedBean {
       // Bean definition
   }

Application Scope:

Application scope represents a single instance of the bean per servlet context, created once when the application starts up.

   @Component
   @Scope(value = WebApplicationContext.SCOPE_APPLICATION, proxyMode = ScopedProxyMode.TARGET_CLASS)
   public class ApplicationScopedBean {
       // Bean definition
   }

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