10 Spring Framework Interview Questions and Answers in 2023

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As the Spring Framework continues to evolve and become more popular, it is important to stay up to date on the latest interview questions and answers. This blog post will provide an overview of 10 of the most common Spring Framework interview questions and answers for the year 2023. With this information, you will be well-prepared to answer any questions related to the Spring Framework that may come up during an interview.

1. What is the difference between Spring Boot and Spring MVC?

Spring Boot is a framework that is built on top of the Spring Framework and provides an easier way to set up, configure, and develop Spring-based applications. It provides an opinionated approach to configuration and eliminates the need for a lot of boilerplate code. Spring Boot also provides a number of features that make it easier to develop and deploy applications, such as auto-configuration, starter dependencies, and embedded servers.

Spring MVC is a web framework that is part of the Spring Framework. It provides a model-view-controller architecture for developing web applications. It is designed to simplify the development of web applications by providing a set of components that can be used to create web applications. Spring MVC provides a number of features, such as data binding, form validation, and support for RESTful web services.


2. How would you implement Dependency Injection in a Spring application?

Dependency Injection (DI) is a design pattern used to implement loose coupling between components in a Spring application. It is a way of providing objects with their dependencies, instead of having the objects create or look up their dependencies.

To implement DI in a Spring application, you need to use the Spring Framework's Inversion of Control (IoC) container. The IoC container is responsible for creating and managing the objects and their dependencies.

The first step is to define the beans that will be managed by the IoC container. This is done in an XML configuration file, or in Java configuration classes. The beans are defined using the element, and each bean has an id attribute that is used to identify it.

The next step is to define the dependencies between the beans. This is done using the element, which is nested inside the element. The element has an attribute called ref, which is used to specify the id of the bean that the current bean depends on.

Once the beans and their dependencies have been defined, the IoC container can be used to create and manage the objects. The IoC container will create the objects and inject the dependencies into them.

Finally, the objects can be used in the application. The objects will have their dependencies already injected, so they can be used without having to look up or create their dependencies.


3. What is the purpose of the @Autowired annotation?

The @Autowired annotation is used in the Spring Framework to provide dependency injection. It is used to inject a bean into another bean, or to inject a service into a controller. This annotation can be used on fields, constructors, and methods.

When used on a field, the annotation will inject the bean into the field. When used on a constructor, the annotation will inject the bean into the constructor. When used on a method, the annotation will inject the bean into the method's parameters.

The @Autowired annotation is used to reduce the amount of code needed to wire up beans in the Spring Framework. It eliminates the need to manually create and wire up beans, and instead allows the Spring Framework to automatically inject the necessary beans. This makes the code more maintainable and easier to read.


4. How would you configure a Spring application to use a specific database?

To configure a Spring application to use a specific database, the following steps should be taken:

1. Add the appropriate JDBC driver dependency to the project's build file (e.g. Maven or Gradle).

2. Create a DataSource bean in the application configuration file (e.g. application.yml or application.properties). This bean should contain the necessary configuration information for the database, such as the URL, username, and password.

3. Create a JdbcTemplate bean in the application configuration file. This bean should be configured to use the DataSource bean created in the previous step.

4. Create a DAO (Data Access Object) class for each entity in the application. This class should contain methods for performing CRUD operations on the database.

5. Inject the JdbcTemplate bean into each DAO class.

6. Use the JdbcTemplate methods in the DAO classes to perform CRUD operations on the database.

7. Configure the application to use the DAO classes for database operations.


5. What is the purpose of the @RequestMapping annotation?

The @RequestMapping annotation is used in Spring MVC to map web requests to specific handler methods. It is used to create a mapping between a URL and a method in a controller class. This annotation is used to map HTTP requests to specific handler methods. It can be used to map different URL patterns to the same controller method, or to map the same URL pattern to different controller methods based on the HTTP method used. It can also be used to map URL patterns to controller methods with specific request parameters, or to map URL patterns to controller methods with specific request headers. The @RequestMapping annotation can also be used to map URL patterns to controller methods with specific request body content.


6. How would you configure a Spring application to use a specific logging framework?

To configure a Spring application to use a specific logging framework, the following steps should be taken:

1. Add the logging framework dependency to the project's build file. This will allow the application to access the logging framework's classes and methods.

2. Configure the logging framework in the application's configuration file. This will allow the application to use the logging framework's features.

3. Create a logging configuration file. This will allow the application to specify the logging levels, log file locations, and other settings.

4. Configure the logging framework in the application's code. This will allow the application to use the logging framework's features in the code.

5. Create a logging aspect. This will allow the application to log specific events and activities.

6. Configure the logging framework in the application's deployment descriptor. This will allow the application to use the logging framework's features in the deployed environment.

7. Test the logging configuration. This will ensure that the logging framework is configured correctly and that the application is logging the expected events and activities.


7. What is the purpose of the @Component annotation?

The @Component annotation is used to mark a class as a component in the Spring Framework. It is a specialization of the @Component annotation that indicates that the class is a component of the Spring Framework and can be used for dependency injection. The @Component annotation is used to mark a class as a component in the Spring Framework. It is a specialization of the @Component annotation that indicates that the class is a component of the Spring Framework and can be used for dependency injection. This annotation is used to mark a class as a component and to provide a name for the component. The name can be used to refer to the component in other parts of the application. The @Component annotation also allows for the configuration of the component, such as the scope of the component, the lifecycle of the component, and the autowiring of the component. The @Component annotation is used to create a component that can be used in the Spring Framework. The component can be used for dependency injection, and it can be configured with the @Component annotation. The @Component annotation is an important part of the Spring Framework and is used to create components that can be used in the application.


8. How would you configure a Spring application to use a specific security framework?

To configure a Spring application to use a specific security framework, the following steps should be taken:

1. Add the necessary dependencies to the project's build file (e.g. Maven or Gradle). This will include the security framework's library and any other related libraries.

2. Configure the security framework in the application's configuration file (e.g. application.yml). This will include setting up the authentication and authorization mechanisms, as well as any other necessary configuration options.

3. Create a custom security configuration class that extends the security framework's configuration class. This class will be used to configure the security framework for the application.

4. Create a custom authentication provider class that implements the security framework's authentication provider interface. This class will be used to authenticate users and provide them with the necessary credentials.

5. Create a custom authorization provider class that implements the security framework's authorization provider interface. This class will be used to authorize users and determine what resources they can access.

6. Create a custom user details service class that implements the security framework's user details service interface. This class will be used to retrieve user information from the application's data store.

7. Create a custom filter class that implements the security framework's filter interface. This class will be used to filter requests and enforce the security framework's policies.

8. Configure the application to use the custom security configuration, authentication provider, authorization provider, user details service, and filter classes.

9. Test the application to ensure that the security framework is properly configured and working as expected.


9. What is the purpose of the @Service annotation?

The @Service annotation is used in the Spring Framework to indicate that a particular class is a service class. It is a specialization of the @Component annotation, which is used for generic Spring-managed components. The @Service annotation is used to mark a class as a service layer component, which is used to encapsulate the business logic of an application. It is typically used in conjunction with the @Repository annotation, which is used to mark a class as a data access layer component.

The @Service annotation is used to indicate that the class is a service layer component and should be included in the application context. It also allows for the class to be autowired into other components, such as controllers, and for the class to be used as a dependency injection target. Additionally, the @Service annotation can be used to define a service layer bean in the application context, which can be used to inject the service layer component into other components.


10. How would you configure a Spring application to use a specific web framework?

To configure a Spring application to use a specific web framework, the following steps should be taken:

1. Add the appropriate dependencies to the project's build file. This will depend on the web framework being used, but typically involves adding the framework's library to the project's classpath.

2. Configure the web framework in the application's configuration file. This will involve setting up the web framework's configuration parameters, such as the view resolver, the URL mapping, and any other settings that are specific to the web framework.

3. Create the web application's controller classes. These classes will be responsible for handling requests from the web framework and returning the appropriate response.

4. Create the web application's view files. These files will contain the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code that will be rendered by the web framework.

5. Configure the web application's servlet container. This will involve setting up the servlet container's configuration parameters, such as the port number, the context path, and any other settings that are specific to the servlet container.

6. Deploy the web application to the servlet container. This will involve packaging the web application into a WAR file and deploying it to the servlet container.

Once these steps have been completed, the Spring application should be configured to use the specified web framework.


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