@Resource vs @Autowired

java spring dependency-injection annotations autowired
mlo55 picture mlo55 · Nov 4, 2010 · Viewed 242.3k times · Source

Which annotation, @Resource (jsr250) or @Autowired (Spring-specific) should I use in DI?

I have successfully used both in the past, @Resource(name="blah") and @Autowired @Qualifier("blah")

My instinct is to stick with the @Resource tag since it's been ratified by the jsr people.
Anyone has strong thoughts on this?

Answer

Ichthyo picture Ichthyo · Jun 6, 2012

Both @Autowired (or @Inject) and @Resource work equally well. But there is a conceptual difference or a difference in the meaning

  • @Resource means get me a known resource by name. The name is extracted from the name of the annotated setter or field, or it is taken from the name-Parameter.
  • @Inject or @Autowired try to wire in a suitable other component by type.

So, basically these are two quite distinct concepts. Unfortunately the Spring-Implementation of @Resource has a built-in fallback, which kicks in when resolution by-name fails. In this case, it falls back to the @Autowired-kind resolution by-type. While this fallback is convenient, IMHO it causes a lot of confusion, because people are unaware of the conceptual difference and tend to use @Resource for type-based autowiring.

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