For the latest stable version, please use Spring Batch Documentation 5.2.4!

Chunk-oriented Processing

Spring Batch uses a “chunk-oriented” processing style in its most common implementation. Chunk oriented processing refers to reading the data one at a time and creating 'chunks' that are written out within a transaction boundary. Once the number of items read equals the commit interval, the entire chunk is written out by the ItemWriter, and then the transaction is committed. The following image shows the process:

Figure 1. Chunk-oriented Processing

The following pseudo code shows the same concepts in a simplified form:

List items = new Arraylist();
for(int i = 0; i < commitInterval; i++){
    Object item = itemReader.read();
    if (item != null) {
        items.add(item);
    }
}
itemWriter.write(items);

You can also configure a chunk-oriented step with an optional ItemProcessor to process items before passing them to the ItemWriter. The following image shows the process when an ItemProcessor is registered in the step:

Figure 2. Chunk-oriented Processing with Item Processor

The following pseudo code shows how this is implemented in a simplified form:

List items = new Arraylist();
for(int i = 0; i < commitInterval; i++){
    Object item = itemReader.read();
    if (item != null) {
        items.add(item);
    }
}

List processedItems = new Arraylist();
for(Object item: items){
    Object processedItem = itemProcessor.process(item);
    if (processedItem != null) {
        processedItems.add(processedItem);
    }
}

itemWriter.write(processedItems);

For more details about item processors and their use cases, see the Item processing section.