Top 10 Spring Framework Interview Questions Every Java Developer Should Know

Spring is one of the most widely used frameworks in the Java ecosystem. It simplifies enterprise application development by providing powerful features like dependency injection, aspect-oriented programming, and easy integration with databases and other technologies. For any Java developer preparing for interviews, understanding the core concepts of Spring is essential.

Below are 10 frequently asked Spring interview questions, along with explanations to help you understand what interviewers are looking for.

Spring is an open-source framework that simplifies Java application development. It provides inversion of control (IoC), dependency management, transaction management, and integration with technologies like JPA, JDBC, and web frameworks. Interviewers ask this to check if you understand Spring’s purpose and advantages.

Dependency Injection is a design pattern where the framework provides objects that a class depends on, instead of the class creating them itself. Spring supports constructor injection, setter injection, and field injection. Interviewers want to see if you understand how DI reduces coupling and improves testability.

These annotations are stereotypes for Spring-managed beans:

• @Component – generic bean;
• @Service – business logic;
• @Repository – DAO layer, also translates persistence exceptions;
• @Controller – web layer controller (used in Spring MVC).

The question tests your knowledge of Spring bean types and layer-specific responsibilities.

• BeanFactory – basic IoC container, lazily initializes beans;
• ApplicationContext – advanced container, eagerly initializes beans, supports events, internationalization, and other features.

This question evaluates your understanding of Spring’s core architecture.

• Singleton – one instance per Spring container (default);
• Prototype – a new instance every time it is requested.

Interviewers are checking if you understand bean scopes and how they affect application behavior.

AOP (Aspect-Oriented Programming) allows separation of cross-cutting concerns like logging, transactions, or security. In Spring, aspects are defined using annotations like @Aspect and applied via pointcuts. The question tests your knowledge of advanced Spring features.

• Class-level – applies to all public methods in the class;
• Method-level – applies only to the annotated method and overrides class-level configuration if present.

Interviewers want to see that you understand transaction management and its scope.

• @Autowired – Spring-specific, injects by type;
• @Inject – JSR-330 standard, similar to @Autowired;
• @Resource – JSR-250, injects by name by default.

This tests your knowledge of DI annotations and portability between frameworks.

Spring Boot is built on top of Spring and simplifies configuration through auto-configuration, embedded servers, and starter dependencies. The question shows whether you understand modern Spring practices and rapid development advantages.

• @Controller – used for MVC controllers, often returns views;
• @RestController – combines @Controller and @ResponseBody, returns JSON/XML directly for REST APIs.

This question tests knowledge of Spring MVC and RESTful development.

Understanding these 10 questions helps prepare for common Spring interviews. Interviewers are not only checking your memorization skills but also whether you grasp core concepts, know how to apply them, and can explain them clearly.

Focus on reasoning behind answers, and practice explaining your thought process—this often leaves a stronger impression than simply stating definitions.