Spring Framework 6.2 — Fallback Annotation

This story explores the usage of the Fallback annotation introduced in Spring Framework 6.2.

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· Prerequisites
· Overview
· Example
∘ @Primary Annotation
∘ @Fallback Annotation
∘ Fine-tuning Annotation-based Autowiring with Qualifiers
· Conclusion
· References

Prerequisites

This is the list of all the prerequisites:

• Spring Boot 3.4+
• Java 17 or later

Overview

Spring 6.2 added support for fallback beans. A fallback bean is used if no bean of that type has been provided. It is a substitute for the @Primary annotation.

If all beans but one among multiple matching candidates are marked as a fallback, the remaining bean will be selected.

Example

@Primary Annotation

The @Primary annotation in Spring is used to indicate that a bean should be given preference when multiple candidates are qualified to autowire a single-valued dependency.