Release Announcement: 13/11/2009

5 cool things available in Spring 3.0

1. Java 5 fully used throughout the whole API. In 2.5 the core is still Java 1.4 compatible, 3.0 is written in and requires Java 5.0. This means much greater use of generics. Unrelated but they have also included many performance enhancements.
2. SpEL. Spring Expression Language gives access to nested bean definitions and system properties via #{…} syntax in property values. These dynamic #{…} expressions and static ${…} placeholders can also be used to inject property settings via the @Value annotation. This should much simplify property setting.
3. Comprehensive REST support. Spring 2.5 MVC is an excellent pattern. The simplicity of annotated controllers results in very clean implementations. 3.0 takes this system further by building in Restful support and a RestTemplate for clientside REST.
4. Spring 3.0 UI Field Formatting. Springs formatting system has always been useful in web and desktop applications. Its an effective way to remove a lot of boilerplate code from a system. This new system of annotations allows common formats to be applied to classes, model properties and methods. Check it out its very cool.
5. Many enhancements migrating to java.util.concurrent including ThreadPoolExecutorFactoryBean which exposes the native ExecutorService interface. The concurrent package is very good indeed, so bringing more support into spring is just fantastic.

Of the 5 mentioned here its only the tip of the iceberg as regards new features. This release is very rich. As usual with spring its when you have something to solve that you really appreciate it.