Beans get initialized through an ApplicationContext
, which is also a BeanFactory
. With an XML configuration, you would need an implementation of that interface, ClassPathXmlApplicationContext
. Your application needs to create such a class, register your XML file(s), and refresh the context. When that is done, Spring will start creating your beans by reading the configuration.
When it hits the <component-scan>
element, Spring will scan your declared packages for any classes annotated with @Component
or its specializations. From the docs:
In Spring 2.0 and later, the @Repository annotation is a marker for
any class that fulfills the role or stereotype (also known as Data
Access Object or DAO) of a repository. Among the uses of this marker
is the automatic translation of exceptions.
Spring 2.5 introduces further stereotype annotations: @Component,
@Service, and @Controller. @Component is a generic stereotype for any
Spring-managed component. @Repository, @Service, and @Controller are
specializations of @Component for more specific use cases, for
example, in the persistence, service, and presentation layers,
respectively.
Therefore, you can annotate your component classes with @Component,
but by annotating them with @Repository, @Service, or @Controller
instead, your classes are more properly suited for processing by tools
or associating with aspects. For example, these stereotype annotations
make ideal targets for pointcuts.
Thus, if you are choosing between using @Component or @Service for
your service layer, @Service is clearly the better choice. Similarly,
as stated above, @Repository is already supported as a marker for
automatic exception translation in your persistence layer.
When it finds those classes, it will create an instance of each of them.
As for how it does this, it's a little more complicated. The overall strategy is with reflection. However, because of your configuration, Spring will sometimes generate (java or cglib) proxies instead of clear instances so that it can add behavior.
All the steps are described in detail in the official documentation.