[FIXED] What is the difference between /* and /** pattern in Spring boot?

Issue

I was trying to register certain URLs for a Filter when I noticed that there is a difference between /* and /** patterns.

    @Bean
    public FilterRegistrationBean tokenAuthenticationFilterBean() {
        FilterRegistrationBean registration = new FilterRegistrationBean(tokenAuthenticationFilter);
        registration.addUrlPatterns("/api/**","/ping","/api/*");
        return registration;
    }

What is the difference between these patterns?

Solution

Spring normally uses Ant-style path matching patterns for URLs. If you look at the Java docs for the AntPathMatcher you will see the explanation:

The mapping matches URLs using the following rules:

• ? matches one character
• * matches zero or more characters
• ** matches zero or more directories in a path
• {spring:[a-z]+} matches the regexp [a-z]+ as a path variable named "spring"

Answered By - rhinds
Answer Checked By - Willingham (JavaFixing Volunteer)