Spring @Import Annotation Example

Spring @Import annotation provides functionality similar to <import/> element in spring XML. Using @Import annotation you can import one or more @Configuration classes. It can also import classes containing at least one @Bean method.

Declared Beans using @Configuration and @Bean

AppConfig definitions is a @Configuration annoated class containing bean definitions defined using @Bean.

AppConfig:

package com.javarticles.spring;

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;

@Configuration
public class AppConfig {
    @Bean
    public BeanA beanA() {
        return new BeanA();
    }
    
    @Bean
    public InnerBean innerBean() {
        return new InnerBean();
    }

    static class InnerBean {       
    }
}

Here is a class that is not annotated with @Configuration but still can be imported as it contains @Bean methods.

BeanHolder:

package com.javarticles.spring;

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;

public class BeanHolder {
    @Bean
    public BeanB beanB() {
        return new BeanB();
    }

    @Bean
    public BeanC beanC() {
        return new BeanC();
    }
}

BeanA:

package com.javarticles.spring;

public class BeanA {
}

BeanB:

package com.javarticles.spring;

public class BeanB {
}

BeanC:

package com.javarticles.spring;

public class BeanC {
}

Import Beans using @Import

We use @Import annotation and pass in the classes to be imported, AppConfig and BeanHolder. It not only import the classes passed in but also any beans declared using @Bean methods.

Bean definitions can be accessed using the ApplicationContext or by auto-wiring using @Autowired annotation.

ImportAnnotationExample:

package com.javarticles.spring;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Import;

@Configuration
@Import({AppConfig.class, BeanHolder.class})
public class ImportAnnotationExample {
    @Autowired
    private AppConfig appConfig;
    
    @Autowired
    private BeanB beanB;
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        AnnotationConfigApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(
                ImportAnnotationExample.class);
        
        printBean(context, "com.javarticles.spring.AppConfig");
        printBean(context, "beanA");
        printBean(context, "beanB");
        printBean(context, "beanC");
        printBean(context, "innerBean");
        
        ImportAnnotationExample importAnnotationExample = (ImportAnnotationExample) 
                context.getBean("importAnnotationExample");
        System.out.println("AppConfig member: " + importAnnotationExample.getAppConfig());
        System.out.println("BeanB member: " + importAnnotationExample.getBeanB());
    }

    public static void printBean(ApplicationContext context, String beanId) {
        System.out.println(beanId + ": " + context.getBean(beanId));
    }
    
    public AppConfig getAppConfig() {
        return appConfig;
    }

    public BeanB getBeanB() {
        return beanB;
    }       
}

Output:

Feb 10, 2016 10:22:25 AM org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext prepareRefresh
INFO: Refreshing org.spring[email protected]7c3df479: startup date [Wed Feb 10 10:22:25 IST 2016]; root of context hierarchy
com.javarticles.spring.AppConfig: co[email protected]2a40cd94
beanA: [email protected]
beanB: [email protected]
beanC: [email protected]
innerBean: [email protected]
AppConfig member: co[email protected]2a40cd94
BeanB member: [email protected]

Download the source code

This was an example about spring @Import annotation.