Understanding MVC Architecture in Spring MVC

 Spring MVC is a module of the Spring Framework that follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. It is used to build flexible and loosely coupled web applications in Java. The MVC pattern helps separate the application logic from the user interface, making code more maintainable and testable.


🔍 What is MVC?

Model: Represents the application’s data and business logic.

View: Handles the display of data to the user (UI).

Controller: Manages user input, updates the model, and selects the view to render.


🧱 Spring MVC Architecture Components

DispatcherServlet (Front Controller):

Central point for handling all HTTP requests.

Delegates requests to appropriate controllers.

Controller:

Annotated with @Controller or @RestController.

Contains handler methods mapped to URLs using @RequestMapping.

Model:

Java objects that hold data (often from a database).

Passed from controller to view using Model, ModelMap, or ModelAndView.

View:

Typically JSP, Thymeleaf, or HTML templates.

Renders data received from the controller.

ViewResolver:

Maps logical view names returned by controllers to actual view files.


🛠️ Example: A Simple Spring MVC Flow

Step 1: Controller

@Controller

public class BookController {

    @GetMapping("/books")

    public String getBooks(Model model) {

        List<String> books = List.of("Spring in Action", "Java Basics");

        model.addAttribute("bookList", books);

        return "books";  // Logical view name

    }

}


Step 2: View (books.jsp or books.html)

<ul>

  <c:forEach var="book" items="${bookList}">

    <li>${book}</li>

  </c:forEach>

</ul>


Step 3: DispatcherServlet & ViewResolver (configured in XML or Java)

@Bean

public InternalResourceViewResolver viewResolver() {

    InternalResourceViewResolver resolver = new InternalResourceViewResolver();

    resolver.setPrefix("/WEB-INF/views/");

    resolver.setSuffix(".jsp");

    return resolver;

}


🔄 Request Flow in Spring MVC

  • User sends request to /books.
  • DispatcherServlet receives the request.
  • It finds BookController#getBooks() using mappings.
  • The controller adds data to the Model and returns view name "books".
  • ViewResolver maps "books" to /WEB-INF/views/books.jsp.
  • The view renders the data and sends the response to the user.


✅ Benefits of Spring MVC

  • Clear separation of concerns (MVC)
  • Easy integration with databases and RESTful APIs
  • Supports multiple view technologies (JSP, Thymeleaf, etc.)
  • Built-in features like data binding, validation, and exception handling


🧩 Conclusion

Spring MVC simplifies web application development by enforcing a clean separation between logic, presentation, and request handling. It provides powerful features to build scalable, maintainable, and testable Java web applications following the MVC pattern. Understanding its architecture helps developers design better systems with clear structure and flow.

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