org.springframework.context.annotation
Annotation Type Configuration

@Target(value=TYPE)
@Retention(value=RUNTIME)
@Documented
@Component
public @interface Configuration

Indicates that a class declares one or more Bean methods and may be processed by the Spring container to generate bean definitions and service requests for those beans at runtime.

Configuration is meta-annotated as a Component, therefore Configuration classes are candidates for component-scanning and may also take advantage of Autowired at the field and method but not at the constructor level. Externalized values may be wired into Configuration classes using the Value annotation.

May be used in conjunction with the Lazy annotation to indicate that all Bean methods declared within this class are by default lazily initialized.

Constraints

• Configuration classes must be non-final
• Configuration classes must be non-local (may not be declared within a method)
• Configuration classes must have a default/no-arg constructor and may not use Autowired constructor parameters

Since:

3.0

Author:

Rod Johnson, Chris Beams

See Also:

Import, Lazy, Bean, ConfigurationClassPostProcessor, AnnotationConfigApplicationContext

Optional Element Summary

java.lang.String

value Explicitly specify the name of the Spring bean definition associated with this Configuration class.

value

public abstract java.lang.String value

Explicitly specify the name of the Spring bean definition associated with this Configuration class. If left unspecified (the common case), a bean name will be automatically generated.

The custom name applies only if the Configuration class is picked up via component scanning or supplied directly to a AnnotationConfigApplicationContext. If the Configuration class is registered as a traditional XML bean definition, the name/id of the bean element will take precedence.

Returns:

the specified bean name, if any

See Also:

DefaultBeanNameGenerator

Default:

""