What's the Difference Between `applicationContext.xml` and `spring-servlet.xml` in Spring?

Understanding the Relationship between applicationContext.xml and spring-servlet.xml

Within the Spring Framework, the configuration files applicationContext.xml and spring-servlet.xml serve distinct roles in the application context hierarchy.

Connection and Differences

• applicationContext.xml: Defines the root application context and manages beans used throughout the web application.
• spring-servlet.xml: Defines an individual servlet's context and handles beans specific to that servlet.

Property File Access:

Properties files declared in applicationContext.xml are accessible to all servlets in the application, including the DispatcherServlet associated with spring-servlet.xml.

Need for *-servlet.xml

A separate *-servlet.xml file is necessary for two reasons:

• To define Spring MVC controllers, which must reside in a servlet context.
• To isolate beans specific to each servlet, preventing potential conflicts or overlapping functionality.

Use Cases

The applicationContext.xml context is primarily used when:

• Sharing beans between multiple servlets is required.
• Common beans used by the entire application need to be defined separately.

In most scenarios, applicationContext.xml can be omitted if all beans are confined to a single servlet.

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