Spring Boot & Auto-Configuration Flashcards

What is the primary annotation on the main class of a Spring Boot application?

Answer: @SpringBootApplication

@SpringBootApplication is a convenience annotation combining @Configuration, @EnableAutoConfiguration, and @ComponentScan for the main entry point.

Where does Spring Boot look for application properties by default?

Answer: src/main/resources/application.properties

Spring Boot automatically loads application.properties (or application.yml) from src/main/resources on the classpath.

What does Spring Boot's auto-configuration feature do?

Answer: Automatically configures beans based on classpath dependencies and properties

Auto-configuration detects the libraries on the classpath and automatically creates and configures Spring beans with sensible defaults.

Which Spring Boot starter dependency should be added for building REST APIs?

Answer: spring-boot-starter-web

spring-boot-starter-web includes Spring MVC, embedded Tomcat, and JSON serialization support for building RESTful web services.

How do you override a specific auto-configuration class in Spring Boot?

Answer: Use @SpringBootApplication(exclude = {ClassName.class})

The exclude attribute of @SpringBootApplication (or @EnableAutoConfiguration) accepts an array of auto-configuration classes to disable.

What is an 'opinionated' framework in the context of Spring Boot?

Answer: A framework that provides sensible defaults and reduces configuration decisions

Spring Boot is opinionated in that it provides pre-configured defaults for most settings, reducing the time developers spend on boilerplate configuration.