What's the difference between @Component, @Repository & @Service annotations in Spring?

Question

Can @Component, @Repository and @Service annotations be used interchangeably in Spring or do they provide any particular functionality besides acting as a notation device?

Answer 1

@Component acts as @Bean annotation in configuration class , register bean in spring context. Also it is parent for @Service, @Repository and @Controller annotation.

@Service, extends @Component annotation and has only naming difference.

@Repository - extends @Component annotation and translate all database exceptions into DataAccessException.

@Controller - acts as controller in MVC pattern. The dispatcher will scan such annotated classes for mapped methods, detecting @RequestMapping annotations.