Spring Framework is a popular Java-based application framework developed by Rod Johnson in 2003. It is lightweight and handles infrastructure so developers can focus on the application. Spring is modular and can build Java and web applications. Major releases include Spring 2.0 in 2006, Spring 3.0 in 2009, and Spring 4.0 in 2013 which added support for Java 8 and WebSocket. Spring 5 will focus on reactive streams. Spring is advantageous for being lightweight, supporting loose coupling, and easier testing. The learning curve can be high and nature changes can be difficult to grasp.

1. Spring Framework Tutorial
for Beginners
SPRING FRAMEWORK TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS – LEARN SPRING

3. What is Spring Framework?
Spring Framework is one of the most popular Java-based application frameworks and
it was developed by Rod Johnson back in 2003. Spring Framework is an open-source
framework that we use to develop Java applications with very ease and at a rapid
pace. It is a very lightweight framework that provides well-defined infrastructure
support for developing Java applications. In other words, you can say that Spring
handles the infrastructure so, that you can focus more on developing your application.
Also, Spring is modular in nature which means that you can use the parts that you need
instead of using the whole of it. Using Spring Framework, you can build Java applications
as well as Web applications (by using extensions).

4. Spring Framework.

5. Spring Framework Tutorial –
Versions/History
Now, in Spring Framework Tutorial, we will discuss the history of Spring Framework. Since the
introduction of the Spring Framework in 2003 by Rod Johnson, there are several developments that
have taken place in the framework. In June 2003 Spring was released under Apache2.0 license. The
first milestone release 1.0 was in March 2004 with further milestone releases in September 2004 and
March 2005.
Spring 2.0 was released in October 2006, Spring 2.5 in November 2007, and Spring 3.0 in December
2009. In December 2013 Spring 4.0 was released which included support for Java SE8, Groovy2,
some aspects of Java EE7, and WebSocket. The extensions of the 4th versions that are Spring 4.2.0
and Spring 4.2.1 were released in July 2015 and September 2015 respectively.
The 4.2.1 version focuses on core refinements and the latest web capabilities. The latest version 4.3
has been released on 10 June 2016 which will be supported till 2020 and will be the final generation
of the 4th version. Version 5 is said to be built upon Reactive Streams.

7. Advantages of Spring Framework
It is lightweight in nature due to its POJO implementation which doesn’t force to inherit any class
or implement any interfaces.
Spring Framework supports other frameworks and its integration makes Spring easier to
develop.
The Spring application is loosely couple due to Dependency Injection.
The Spring Framework is easier to test and it doesn’t require any server to run the application.
It provides a powerful abstraction to JavaEE Specifications like JDBC, JTA etc.
Spring can remove the creation of the singleton and factory classes.
Spring framework takes the best practices in all applications and formalizes as design patterns.
After the brief introduction to you will be getting to know the benefits of Spring framework which are
as follow: –

8. Disadvantages of Spring Framework
The learning curve for Spring Framework is very high as most developers find it hard to
understand and apply.
The nature of Spring Framework keeps changing over the course of time which makes it
harder to grasp. For example, the annotation-based Spring is not everybody’s cup of
tea.
For many it's a time-consuming process as Spring Framework has lots of integration
with other frameworks due to which it is hard to know all the options which are
available.
These are some limitations of Spring Framework, let’s discuss them:

9. Summary
In this Spring Framework Tutorial, you learned what Spring Framework is and what are the
important components of the Java Spring Framework. You also got to know how important
Spring is and what are advantages of Spring Framework over other Java-based frameworks.
Also, you got to know about the shortcomings of Spring and its versions of it since its initial
release.