Features of Spring Framework 4

In this article we are discussing about the new features and enhancements of the Spring Framework 4. Spring Framework 4 is the major release of the framework since 2009. New release supports Java 8 Lambda expression, new Date and Time API and the parameter name discovery. Spring 4 is fully supporting Java 8 and the Java EE 7 platform.

This version of Spring Framework (Spring 4) is the major release which is fully supporting the Java 8. Spring 4 can still be used with the older version of the Java but the minimum Java requirement is Java SE 6. In this version of Spring framework many deprecated classes and methods has been removed.

The Spring framework 4 is also upgraded to provide the supporting for the latest framework such as Hibernate ORM, Quartz framewokr, and EhCache caching solution. This release of Spring framework is supporting the development of ever growing enterprise applications.

Spring Framework 4 is the major release since 2009 as it is now re-invented to support the development of Big Data, Cloud and REST applications to meet the requirement of current applications. It is also supports Micro Service Architecture which allows the developers to develop light weight services. Spring 4 also supports all the latest JVM based innovations.

Java 8 Support

Spring 4 Framework is fully supporting the new features of Java 8. Spring 4 supports Lambda expression, new date & time API and Java 8 based parameter name discovery. Now Java 6 is the minimum requirement of JDK to run the Spring 4 based applications. Ideally you should use the Java 8 for the development of Spring 4 based application.

Secure REST stack

Now you can secure REST stack with the help of Spring 4 security stack. You can also secure Web app and Spring MVC based applications. Spring 4 security stack integrates seamlessly with REST, Spring Social, Web applications, MVC applications.

Full support for HTML5/WebSocket

Spring 4 framework fully supports HTML5 and WebSockets, with the help you Spring 4 framework you can develop applications using the features of WebSocket specifications. You can develop applications which will include the following features:

1. Support for real-time full dupled communications over TCP
2. Web application can use the ports 80 and 443 using the URL Schemes ws:// and wss:// respectively
3. There will be small overhead for text messages making it more interactive for users
4. Ping/pong frames for staying alive, which is an important feature for maintaining the session and user state

Annotation Driven programming model

Spring 4 framework supports latest annotation driven programming model which helps the developers to develop application using Custom composable annotations, annotation scoping /overriding model and the Spring expression language support.

Full support of Java EE 7 specification

Spring 4 framework fully supports Java EE 7 Specification and you can use the following features main features in your application:
1. JMS 2.0 (JSR-343)
2. JTA 1.2 (JSR-907)
3. JPA 2.1 (JSR-338)
4. Bean Validation 1.1 (JSR-349),Spring framework3支持的是jsr-303
5. JSR-236 Concurrency Utilities and many other features of JEE 7
6. JSR-356 Spring’s WebSocket endpoint mode.
7. JSR-335 Lambda expressions
8. JSR-310 Date-Time value types for Spring data binding and formatting.

Removal of Deprecated Methods and Packages

Many deprecated API’s has been removed in the Spring 4 framework. So, you should use the new API in your Spring 4 based applications. Here is the list of removed packages in Spring 4:

1. org.springframework.core.enums
2. org.springframework.ejb.support
3. org.springframework.instrument.classloading.oc4j
4. org.springframework.orm.ibatis
5. org.springframework.orm.ibatis.support
6. org.springframework.remoting.jaxrpc
7. org.springframework.scheduling.backportconcurrent
8. org.springframework.scheduling.timer
9. org.springframework.test.context.junit38
10. org.springframework.test.jpa
11. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles
12. org.springframework.web.struts

Here is the list of added package in Spring 4:

1. org.springframework.beans.factory.groovy
2. org.springframework.cache.guava
3. org.springframework.format.datetime.standard
4. org.springframework.messaging
5. org.springframework.messaging.converter
6. org.springframework.messaging.core
7. org.springframework.messaging.handler
8. org.springframework.messaging.handler.annotation
9. org.springframework.messaging.handler.annotation.support
10. org.springframework.messaging.handler.invocation
11. org.springframework.messaging.simp
12. org.springframework.messaging.simp.annotation
13. org.springframework.messaging.simp.annotation.support
14. org.springframework.messaging.simp.broker
15. org.springframework.messaging.simp.config
16. org.springframework.messaging.simp.stomp
17. org.springframework.messaging.simp.user
18. org.springframework.messaging.support
19. org.springframework.messaging.tcp
20. org.springframework.messaging.tcp.reactor
21. org.springframework.util.concurrent
22. org.springframework.web.socket
23. org.springframework.web.socket.adapter
24. org.springframework.web.socket.adapter.jetty
25. org.springframework.web.socket.adapter.standard
26. org.springframework.web.socket.client
27. org.springframework.web.socket.client.jetty
28. org.springframework.web.socket.client.standard
29. org.springframework.web.socket.config
30. org.springframework.web.socket.config.annotation
31. org.springframework.web.socket.handler
32. org.springframework.web.socket.messaging
33. org.springframework.web.socket.server
34. org.springframework.web.socket.server.jetty
35. org.springframework.web.socket.server.standard
36. org.springframework.web.socket.server.support
37. org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs
38. org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.frame
39. org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.support
40. org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport
41. org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.handler
42. org.springframework.web.socket.sockjs.transport.session

Here is the list of changed packages in Spring 4:

1. org.springframework.aop
2. org.springframework.aop.aspectj
3. org.springframework.aop.aspectj.annotation
4. org.springframework.aop.aspectj.autoproxy
5. org.springframework.aop.config
6. org.springframework.aop.framework
7. org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy
8. org.springframework.aop.framework.autoproxy.target
9. org.springframework.aop.interceptor
10. org.springframework.aop.support
11. org.springframework.aop.support.annotation
12. org.springframework.aop.target
13. org.springframework.asm
14. org.springframework.asm.util
15. org.springframework.beans
16. org.springframework.beans.factory
17. org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation
18. org.springframework.beans.factory.config
19. org.springframework.beans.factory.serviceloader
20. org.springframework.beans.factory.support
21. org.springframework.beans.factory.xml
22. org.springframework.beans.propertyeditors
23. org.springframework.beans.support
24. org.springframework.cache
25. org.springframework.cache.concurrent
26. org.springframework.cache.ehcache
27. org.springframework.cache.interceptor
28. org.springframework.cache.jcache
29. org.springframework.cache.transaction
30. org.springframework.cglib.transform.impl
31. org.springframework.context.annotation
32. org.springframework.context.event
33. org.springframework.context.i18n
34. org.springframework.context.support
35. org.springframework.core
36. org.springframework.core.annotation
37. org.springframework.core.convert
38. org.springframework.core.env
39. org.springframework.core.io
40. org.springframework.core.io.support
41. org.springframework.core.task
42. org.springframework.core.type
43. org.springframework.core.type.classreading
44. org.springframework.core.type.filter
45. org.springframework.dao.support
46. org.springframework.ejb.access
47. org.springframework.expression
48. org.springframework.expression.common
49. org.springframework.expression.spel.ast
50. org.springframework.expression.spel.support
51. org.springframework.format.datetime.joda
52. org.springframework.http
53. org.springframework.http.client
54. org.springframework.http.client.support
55. org.springframework.http.converter
56. org.springframework.http.converter.json
57. org.springframework.http.converter.xml
58. org.springframework.http.server
59. org.springframework.instrument
60. org.springframework.instrument.classloading.tomcat
61. org.springframework.jca.cci.object
62. org.springframework.jca.endpoint
63. org.springframework.jca.support
64. org.springframework.jca.work.jboss
65. org.springframework.jdbc
66. org.springframework.jdbc.core
67. org.springframework.jdbc.core.metadata
68. org.springframework.jdbc.core.namedparam
69. org.springframework.jdbc.core.simple
70. org.springframework.jdbc.core.support
71. org.springframework.jdbc.datasource
72. org.springframework.jdbc.object
73. org.springframework.jdbc.support
74. org.springframework.jdbc.support.lob
75. org.springframework.jdbc.support.xml
76. org.springframework.jms.connection
77. org.springframework.jms.core
78. org.springframework.jms.listener
79. org.springframework.jms.listener.adapter
80. org.springframework.jms.listener.endpoint
81. org.springframework.jms.remoting
82. org.springframework.jms.support.converter
83. org.springframework.jmx.access
84. org.springframework.jmx.export
85. org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler
86. org.springframework.jndi
87. org.springframework.jndi.support
88. org.springframework.mock.web
89. org.springframework.orm
90. org.springframework.orm.hibernate3
91. org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.annotation
92. org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.support
93. org.springframework.orm.hibernate4
94. org.springframework.orm.hibernate4.support
95. org.springframework.orm.jdo
96. org.springframework.orm.jdo.support
97. org.springframework.orm.jpa
98. org.springframework.orm.jpa.persistenceunit
99. org.springframework.orm.jpa.support
100. org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor
101. org.springframework.oxm.castor
102. org.springframework.oxm.xmlbeans
103. org.springframework.oxm.xstream
104. org.springframework.remoting.caucho
105. org.springframework.remoting.httpinvoker
106. org.springframework.remoting.jaxws
107. org.springframework.remoting.rmi
108. org.springframework.remoting.support
109. org.springframework.scheduling
110. org.springframework.scheduling.annotation
111. org.springframework.scheduling.commonj
112. org.springframework.scheduling.concurrent
113. org.springframework.scheduling.quartz
114. org.springframework.scheduling.support
115. org.springframework.scripting
116. org.springframework.scripting.bsh
117. org.springframework.scripting.groovy
118. org.springframework.scripting.jruby
119. org.springframework.scripting.support
120. org.springframework.test
121. org.springframework.test.annotation
122. org.springframework.test.context
123. org.springframework.test.context.junit4
124. org.springframework.test.context.support
125. org.springframework.test.context.testng
126. org.springframework.test.context.transaction
127. org.springframework.test.context.web
128. org.springframework.test.jdbc
129. org.springframework.test.web
130. org.springframework.test.web.servlet.request
131. org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result
132. org.springframework.test.web.servlet.setup
133. org.springframework.transaction
134. org.springframework.transaction.annotation
135. org.springframework.transaction.interceptor
136. org.springframework.transaction.jta
137. org.springframework.transaction.support
138. org.springframework.ui
139. org.springframework.ui.freemarker
140. org.springframework.ui.velocity
141. org.springframework.util
142. org.springframework.util.comparator
143. org.springframework.util.xml
144. org.springframework.validation
145. org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation
146. org.springframework.web.bind
147. org.springframework.web.bind.annotation
148. org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.support
149. org.springframework.web.client
150. org.springframework.web.context
151. org.springframework.web.context.request
152. org.springframework.web.context.request.async
153. org.springframework.web.context.support
154. org.springframework.web.jsf
155. org.springframework.web.method
156. org.springframework.web.method.annotation
157. org.springframework.web.method.support
158. org.springframework.web.portlet
159. org.springframework.web.portlet.handler
160. org.springframework.web.portlet.mvc
161. org.springframework.web.portlet.util
162. org.springframework.web.servlet
163. org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation
164. org.springframework.web.servlet.i18n
165. org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc
166. org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation
167. org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation
168. org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.multiaction
169. org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.support
170. org.springframework.web.servlet.support
171. org.springframework.web.servlet.tags
172. org.springframework.web.servlet.tags.form
173. org.springframework.web.servlet.view
174. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker
175. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.jasperreports
176. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.json
177. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles2
178. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3
179. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.velocity
180. org.springframework.web.servlet.view.xslt
181. org.springframework.web.util

Groovy DSL bean definition support

Now in Spring 4 you can use the Groovy DSL bean configuration as an alternate to configure the bean definition.

Changes in the Spring Core

Following are the changes done in the Spring Core:

1. Spring 4, @Description annotation has been added.
2. The @Conditional is introduced in Spring 4 which can be used to filter the beans using some conditions.
3. The @Ordered annotation introduced for ordering the autowired list and arrays.
4. Support for custom annotations

Features of Spring Web module

Here are the features of Spring 4 Web modules:
1. The Servlet 3.0+ environment is need while testing the application. You should place servlet jar file in your test path while testing the application.
2. The @RestController annotation for defining the REST web services.
3. Timezone support for Spring MVC based application

Testing of application

Many new features are added to the Spring 4 framework for unit and integration testing of the applications. Which helps the developers to write better and bug free code.

原文地址: Features of Spring Framework 4: New features and enhancements in the Spring Framework 4

Spring 4.3.10 framework Spring Framework Reference Documentation