What is the difference between @ImportAutoConfiguration and @Import

Is it true that org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.ImportAutoConfiguration

an improved replacement for org.springframework.context.annotation.Import

?

No, this is not a substitute, as @ImportAutoConfiguration

is an annotation for Spring Boot, I would call it an improvement. But, while it seems like you can use them interchangeably when using Spring Boot, I wouldn't suggest it. Use them as they are intended to be used.

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Would you use @ImportAutoConfiguration



if you don't want to enable autoconfiguration by default with @EnableAutoConfiguration

. As you probably know, @EnableAutoConfiguration

trying to set up beans that are in your classpath, like tomcat-embedded.jar. While@ImportAutoConfiguration



runs only the configuration classes you specified in the annotation.

This is an example of a basic Spring Boot method with @ImportAutoConfiguration

:

@ComponentScan("path.to.your.controllers")
@ImportAutoConfiguration({WebMvcAutoConfiguration.class
    , DispatcherServletAutoConfiguration.class
    , EmbeddedServletContainerAutoConfiguration.class
    , ServerPropertiesAutoConfiguration.class
    , HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration.class})
public class App {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SpringApplication.run(App.class, args);
  }
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

We can say that this is an alternative to use @EnableAutoConfiguration

. And in this case, configure barebone embedded Tomcat and Spring WebMVC.

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@Import

is used to import a bean config class labeled @Configuration

which contains your custom bean config.