[FIXED] Difference between spring @Controller and @RestController annotation

Issue

Difference between spring @Controller and @RestController annotation.

Can @Controller annotation be used for both Web MVC and REST applications?
If yes, how can we differentiate if it is Web MVC or REST application.

Solution

• @Controller is used to mark classes as Spring MVC Controller.
• @RestController is a convenience annotation that does nothing more than adding the @Controller and @ResponseBody annotations (see: Javadoc)

So the following two controller definitions should do the same

@Controller
@ResponseBody
public class MyController { }

@RestController
public class MyRestController { }

Answered By - micha