The Difference Between @Component, @Service, @Repository, and @Controller Annotations in Spring Framework

When working with the Spring framework, understanding the differences between the @Component, @Service, @Repository, and @Controller annotations is crucial for developing robust and maintainable applications.

@Component: The @Component annotation is a generic stereotype annotation that is used to designate any Spring-managed component.

@Service: The @Service annotation is used to mark a class as a service component in the business layer of an application. It is typically used to indicate that a class contains business logic.

@Repository: The @Repository annotation is used to indicate that a class is a repository component in the persistence layer of an application. It is specifically used for database operations, and it translates any persistence-specific exception into a Spring exception.

@Controller: The @Controller annotation is used to mark a class as a controller component in the presentation layer of an application. It is responsible for processing incoming HTTP requests and returning an HTTP response.

Overall, while all four annotations are used to designate Spring-managed components, they serve different purposes within an application's architecture.