Introduction

In my earlier post announcing Spring 3.1 M1, I discussed the new bean definition profiles feature as applied when using Spring <beans/> XML to configure the container. Today we'll introduce the new @Profile annotation and see how this same feature can be applied when using @Configuration classes instead of XML. Along the way we'll cover some best practices for designing @Configuration classes.

Recall @Configuration

For those unfamiliar with @Configuration classes, you can think of them as a pure-Java equivalent to Spring <beans/> XML files. We've blogged about this featureset before, and the reference documentation covers it well. You may want to revisit those resources if you need an…

The first milestone of Spring 3.1 is now available from our http://maven.springframework.org/milestone Maven repository or for direct download from our community download page. This release includes new features such as:

• Bean definition profiles
• Enhancements to Java-based container configuration
• Caching abstraction
• new c: XML namespace
• Improvements to Spring MVC

Download | Documentation | Javadoc API | Change Log | JIRA

Don't forget that Spring users can ask questions in the community forum and identify issues in JIRA as well.

The first milestone release of Spring 3.1 has just been published [1], and this article kicks off a series of posts where I and other team members will walk through each of the major features. Even in the first milestone there's already a lot to talk about!

• Bean definition profiles
• Unified property management through Spring's new Environment abstraction
• Enhancements to Java-based configuration with @Feature methods
• Expanded MVC namespace support and a Java-based configuration equivalent
• Streaming support and new interception model for the RestTemplate API
• Comprehensive caching support
• New c: XML namespace for concise configuration of constructor injection

Get hands-on with a sample

I've developed a small sample to accompany this post, and you might like to take a moment now to check it out (if not, don't worry; you don't need the code to read along below). Just follow the instructions on the README at https://github.com/cbeams/spring-3.1-profiles-xml. If you're not familiar with Git, the README has instructions…

Dear Spring Community,

we are pleased to announce that the first milestone release of the Spring Data JPA project is now available! The release includes:

• Merge of the Hades open-source library into Spring Data
• Sophisticated support to build repositories based on Spring and JPA
• Transparent auditing of domain class
• Pagination support, dynamic query execution, ability to integrate custom data access code

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.data</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-data-jpa</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0.M1</version>
</dependency>

<repository>
    <id>org.springframework.maven.milestone</id>
    <name>Spring Maven Milestone Repository</name>
    <url>http://maven.springframework.org/milestone</url>
</repository>

Download | JavaDocs | Reference documentation (HTML) | Reference documentation (PDF) | Changelog

There are also two sample projects to play with on GitHub.

Looking forward to your feedback in the forums or the issuetracker.

Dear Spring Community,

I am pleased to announce the second milestone release of the Spring Data Key Value 1.0 project, with support for Redis and Riak, is now available!

Downloads | JavaDocs | Reference Documentation | Changelog

This release introduces several new features for both Redis and Riak, such as:

• [Redis] Pubsub support (such as a MessageListenerContainer for message-driven POJOs)
• [Redis] JSON and Spring Object/XML mapping serializers
• [Redis] Full support for upcoming Redis 2.2
• [Redis] Sorting and Pipelining functionality
• [Riak] Asynchronous RiakTemplate
• [Riak] Dedicated Groovy DSL for asynchronous Riak access

We look forward to your feedback on the forum or in the issue tracker.

Dear Spring Community,

I'm pleased to announce that the 1.5.0.M2 milestone release of Spring BlazeDS Integration, the open source solution for building Spring-powered RIAs with Adobe Flex, is now available.

Download | Reference Documentation | JavaDocs | Changelog

Highlights of the significant new features and enhancements in this release include:

• Support for reading and writing AMF content with RESTful Spring MVC @Controllers. This serves as a nice alternative to the direct RPC approach of the Remoting Service, reducing duplication of effort in applications that need to support multiple client types. (See the updated Test Drive for usage examples.)
  
  
• A major refactoring of the Spring Security 3 support, resulting in easier integration of Flex apps with various Spring Security features such as Remember Me, Session Fixation Protection, and Concurrent Session Control.
  
  
• Further evolution of the Hibernate serialization support introduced in 1.5.0.M1, including the option to use direct field mapping instead of property-based mapping.
  
  
• Easier customization and namespace-supported configuration of framework-provided services such as the LoginCommand and MessageInterceptors.
  
  
• Upgraded compatibility with Spring Integration 2.0.x
  
  
• A complete revision of the Maven-based Test Drive samples, including an update across the board to use Flex 4, and a brand new sample to demonstrate the RESTful programming model.

One additional item to note is that the Flex Addon for Spring Roo is no longer part of the project distribution. Instead, version 1.0.0.M2 of the Flex Addon will be released separately in the coming weeks and will be available to Spring Roo 1.1.1 users through Roo's Addon Discovery mechanism. If you'd like to try out the nightly builds of the Flex Addon (which are necessary for compatibility with Roo 1.1 and above), I encourage you to reach out to the community for guidance.

As always, I encourage anyone interested to get involved by trying out the release and giving us feedback in the community forum and Jira, as we are fast approaching 1.5.0.RC1. We continually get great feedback from people having success with Spring BlazeDS Integration in their projects, and we look forward to hearing more about your experiences.

As we have just released the first milestone of the Spring Data JPA project I’d like to give you a quick introduction into its features. As you probably know, the Spring framework provides support to build a JPA based data access layer. So what does Spring Data JPA add to this base support? To answer that question I'd like to start with the data access components for a sample domain implemented using plain JPA + Spring and point out areas that leave room for improvement. After we've done that I will refactor the implementations to use the Spring Data JPA features to address these problem…

We're pleased to an announce the first release candidate for Spring Security 3.1

Please see the changelog for a full list of updates since the M2 release.

The release is available from the Spring Community Downloads area and also from the SpringSource maven repository.

Download | Changelog | Reference Manual | FAQ

Dear Spring Community,

We are pleased to announce that the second milestone release of the Spring Android project is now available!

Spring Android supports usage of the Spring Framework in a Android environment. The 1.0.0.M2 release focuses on extending the use of RestTemplate in native Android applications:

• We now use the HttpComponents HttpClient 4 by default for all REST calls, which is a native HTTP client on the Android platform. This replaces the use of the Commons HttpClient 3 from the first milestone.
• We have added Object-to-XML marshaling support through the use of the Simple XML serialization library. Simple has a small footprint and is compatible with Android.
• RSS and Atom Feeds are now supported through the Android Rome Feed Reader. Android Rome is a port of the popular Rome library that is compatible with Android.
• Integration with the Jackson JSON Processor continues to provide first-class Object-to-JSON marshaling support.

Spring Android is available for download. If you are utilizing Maven with your Android project, simply add the following dependency:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.android</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-android-rest-template</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0.M2</version>
</dependency>

<repository>
    <id>org.springframework.maven.milestone</id>
    <name>Spring Maven Milestone Repository</name>
    <url>http://maven.springframework.org/milestone</url>
</repository>

In addition to the reference guide, Roy Clarkson has authored two blog posts to help you get started developing Android applications:

• Spring Android and Maven (Part 1)
• Spring Android and Maven (Part 2)

A sample app with a README is available at github.com/SpringSource/spring-android-samples: git clone git://github.com/SpringSource/spring-android-samples.git

Work continues on the next Spring Android milestone, where we will we be integrating OAuth support for Android applications. If you're building native Android applications, we invite you to collaborate with us on the Spring Android project.