Package org.springframework.beans.factory

The core package implementing Spring's lightweight Inversion of Control (IoC) container.

See:
Description

Interface Summary

BeanClassLoaderAware	Callback that allows a bean to be aware of the bean class loader; that is, the class loader used by the present bean factory to load bean classes.
BeanFactory	The root interface for accessing a Spring bean container.
BeanFactoryAware	Interface to be implemented by beans that wish to be aware of their owning BeanFactory.
BeanNameAware	Interface to be implemented by beans that want to be aware of their bean name in a bean factory.
DisposableBean	Interface to be implemented by beans that want to release resources on destruction.
FactoryBean<T>	Interface to be implemented by objects used within a BeanFactory which are themselves factories.
HierarchicalBeanFactory	Sub-interface implemented by bean factories that can be part of a hierarchy.
InitializingBean	Interface to be implemented by beans that need to react once all their properties have been set by a BeanFactory: for example, to perform custom initialization, or merely to check that all mandatory properties have been set.
ListableBeanFactory	Extension of the BeanFactory interface to be implemented by bean factories that can enumerate all their bean instances, rather than attempting bean lookup by name one by one as requested by clients.
NamedBean	Counterpart of BeanNameAware.
ObjectFactory<T>	Defines a factory which can return an Object instance (possibly shared or independent) when invoked.
SmartFactoryBean<T>	Extension of the FactoryBean interface.

Class Summary

BeanFactoryUtils

Convenience methods operating on bean factories, in particular on the ListableBeanFactory interface.

Exception Summary

BeanCreationException	Exception thrown when a BeanFactory encounters an error when attempting to create a bean from a bean definition.
BeanCreationNotAllowedException	Exception thrown in case of a bean being requested despite bean creation currently not being allowed (for example, during the shutdown phase of a bean factory).
BeanCurrentlyInCreationException	Exception thrown in case of a reference to a bean that's currently in creation.
BeanDefinitionStoreException	Exception thrown when a BeanFactory encounters an invalid bean definition: e.g.
BeanExpressionException	Exception that indicates an expression evaluation attempt having failed.
BeanInitializationException	Exception that a bean implementation is suggested to throw if its own factory-aware initialization code fails.
BeanIsAbstractException	Exception thrown when a bean instance has been requested for a bean definition which has been marked as abstract.
BeanIsNotAFactoryException	Exception thrown when a bean is not a factory, but a user tries to get at the factory for the given bean name.
BeanNotOfRequiredTypeException	Thrown when a bean doesn't match the expected type.
CannotLoadBeanClassException	Exception thrown when the BeanFactory cannot load the specified class of a given bean.
FactoryBeanNotInitializedException	Exception to be thrown from a FactoryBean's getObject() method if the bean is not fully initialized yet, for example because it is involved in a circular reference.
NoSuchBeanDefinitionException	Exception thrown when a BeanFactory is asked for a bean instance name for which it cannot find a definition.
UnsatisfiedDependencyException	Exception thrown when a bean depends on other beans or simple properties that were not specified in the bean factory definition, although dependency checking was enabled.

Package org.springframework.beans.factory Description

The core package implementing Spring's lightweight Inversion of Control (IoC) container.

Provides an alternative to the Singleton and Prototype design patterns, including a consistent approach to configuration management. Builds on the org.springframework.beans package.

This package and related packages are discussed in Chapter 11 of Expert One-On-One J2EE Design and Development by Rod Johnson (Wrox, 2002).