Spring Boot vs Spring MVC Detail Overview, Advantages & Disadvantages

Let’s get something straight. Spring Boot and Spring MVC aren’t competing. Instead, they’re components of the same universe. This Spring Boot vs Spring MVC review isn’t about which is better. It’s all about providing more insight on both technologies.

So if you’re ready to learn the differences, please join us as we take a deep dive!

Spring Boot vs Spring MVC Overview

To understand both Spring MVC and Spring Boot, you need a basic understanding of the Spring Framework itself.

Spring Framework

Spring is a Java web framework. Java applications rely on objects that collaborate to form your application. Their interaction gives them dependencies. Java doesn’t have the means to organize these components, so Spring gives you a system of modules designed to organize for you.

It handles the larger infrastructure of your application so you can get back to implementing your system. This formalized Java web framework brings your application to life without a complete lack of opinionated system. It speeds up your development and gets you up and running.

Spring Boot vs Spring MVC: What is Spring MVC?

Spring MVC is an HTTP oriented Spring framework that handles classes denoted as controllers. You can implement methods for different HTTP requests. It also has an equivalent rest controller for building REST API.

Essentially, they solve two different issues. Spring MVC offers decoupled ways of solving web frameworks through a model view controller (MVC) design pattern. This separates your application into a triad, making it easier to build lines of code without having to start over each time.

It gives you a decoupled framework that makes it easy to test applications. Spring has a dependency injection problem. When you create your application, there’s no easy way to test it out because what information is it going to use? Spring MVC helps by solving that spring injection issue, giving you the chance to test out what’s going to happen with each application.

So What’s the Big Deal?

Spring is a massive framework with a lot of components. Spring MVC is a faction of Spring that lets you implement your application through the model view controller architecture.

Separating the building blocks of the web application lets you reuse code without having to repurpose it each and every time. It could be a replacement of Struts or Tapestry, for example. Spring provides foundational support for your applications, and Spring MVC is just one of those components.

This decoupling makes it easier to execute web applications because the components of your triad (model = information, view = presentation, and controller = user options) operate without dependency.

Spring MVC Pros

• Apps using Spring MVC are highly scalable
• There’s a large community with documentation
• It covers an extensive ecosystem
• It allows you to decouple the framework for easier execution

Spring MVC Cons

• The architecture is simple, but it’s not beginner friendly
• It is bulky with legacy DI API and spaghetti code

Spring Boot vs Spring MVC: What is Spring Boot?

Spring MVC solves some of your problems, but you’ve still got some configuration issues. On the other hand, Spring Boot is a tool that injects your functionality into the program without the laborious task of doing it individually.

In addition, Spring MVC puts out a lot of configurations, getting clunky and confusing. Spring Boot offers a way to take care of all those internal dependencies through a single application. Essentially, Spring boot provides preconfigured projects to add in as dependencies.

This reduces your lines of code to something a lot more manageable. Instead of 20, you get four. That’s better.

Now you can get back to writing rules and not use up all your valuable time on project set up.

So What’s The Big Deal?

If you’re building applications in Spring, you’re going to use Spring MVC. Spring MVC vs Spring Boot isn’t a question of which of these options to use. A better question is whether to use Spring Boot or not.

If you’re just starting out with Spring, you could use Spring Boot to fill in holes and help guide your development. It cuts down on overwhelm, leaving you free to develop rules for applications.

You can also use it when you’re strapped for time and need to get things rolling. For standard applications, it certainly eases your work.

Spring Boot is heavily opinionated. It favors certain lines of development, but it does offer a little flexibility for working outside its preferences. Convention over configuration is preferred, but it will break with convention without too much workaround.

Furthermore, Spring Boot takes the headache of configuration and internalizes it to get you back to the more significant parts of development. As such, Spring MVC vs Spring Boot is a consistency issue.

Spring Boot Pros

• Spring solves the bloated code issues you often find in Spring apps
• It offers fast prototyping because project set up is cut down drastically
• It inherits all of Spring’s strengths
• Auto configuration removes guesswork

Spring Boot Cons

• UI framework is still lacking
• Community and documentation is still scarce

Spring Boot vs Spring MVC: Final Thoughts

We recommend that you start with other types of projects if you aren’t familiar with the Spring framework. It can still require a lot of your tie and effort for learning the framework. Spring MVC vs Spring Boot still might give you some headaches as you learn to work with both components.

Also, Spring Boot vs Spring MVC isn’t the right question because they’re two entirely different things within Spring’s Java web framework. They’re meant to complement each other and aren’t mutually exclusive in any way. As you work with Spring, you reach points where the code gets overwhelming. Spring Boot’s opinionated system gives you direction and helps cut down on the massive amounts of code required for some Java builds.

Spring Boot’s tool set helps you create applications quicker, getting you to production. If you’re developing something simple, you may not need the Spring Boot veneer. However, as more people begin to use Spring Boot, documentation gets more robust. Also, the ability to break convention when you need to does give you freedom within the convention over configuration model.

Get to know all the different components and your Java development. Spring is excellent for large applications with a lot of needs and requirements. Work with them together to get your projects up and running.