What is Inversion of Control (IoC) and how does it relate to the Spring framework?

Inversion of Control (IoC) is a concept in software engineering where the control of object creation and lifecycle is inverted or shifted to a framework or container. In the Spring framework, IoC is implemented through dependency injection, which is a design pattern that helps in managing dependencies between objects.

With IoC in Spring, the framework is responsible for instantiating objects, wiring them together, and managing their lifecycle. This decouples the application code from the configuration details, making it more modular, flexible, and easier to maintain.

By leveraging IoC in the Spring framework, developers can focus on programming business logic rather than worrying about object instantiation and wiring. This promotes reusable, testable, and loosely coupled code.

Overall, Inversion of Control (IoC) plays a crucial role in the Spring framework by enhancing the modularity, flexibility, and maintainability of Java applications.