Bean Life Cycle in Java Spring

The Spring Bean Life Cycle describes the internal workflow followed by the Spring IoC container to manage a bean, start from object instantiation through dependency injection and initialization and ending with destruction.

Spring Bean Life Cycle

A Spring bean goes through the following phases inside the IoC container

Container Initialization

• The Spring IoC container starts and loads configuration metadata (XML, annotations, or Java config).
• Bean definitions are registered, and infrastructure components (like processors) are prepared.

Bean Instantiation

• The container creates the bean object using a constructor or factory method.
• At this stage, the bean exists in memory but dependencies are not yet injected.

Dependency Injection

• The container resolves required dependencies from the IoC container.
• Dependencies are injected via constructor, setter, or field injection.

Custom Init Method

• The custom init() method is called once all dependencies are injected.
• It is used to perform additional setup like initializing resources, validating properties, or starting connections.

Custom Utility Method

• A Custom Utility Method is a normal business or helper method defined inside a Spring bean.
• The developer must manually call it through the bean reference.

Destruction

• Cleanup logic is executed using @PreDestroy, destroy(), or custom destroy methods.
• Resources such as database connections or threads are released before bean removal.

Note: Custom method names can be used instead of default lifecycle method names.

Ways to Implement Bean Life Cycle in Spring

Spring provides three standard ways to manage the bean life cycle:

1. XML Configuration
2. Programmatic Approach (Interfaces)
3. Annotations

1. Using XML Configuration

In this approach, in order to avail custom init() and destroy() methods for a bean we have to register these two methods inside the Spring XML configuration file while defining a bean. Therefore, the following steps are followed: 

Step 1: Create the Project

• Open IntelliJ IDEA.
• Click New Project -> Maven.
• Select JDK (Java 8 / 11 / 17).
• Enter:
• GroupId: beans
• ArtifactId: SpringXMLDemo
• Click Finish.

Step 2: Project Structure

Organize the project using standard Maven directories for Java source files and resource files.

Step 3: Add Spring Dependency

Open pom.xml and add:

Step 4: Create the Bean Class

Create a simple Spring bean with custom init() and destroy() methods to handle initialization and destruction logic.

HelloWorld.java

Explanation:

• init(): called after the bean is created.
• destroy(): called before the Spring container is closed.
• System.out.println(...) shows the method execution.

Step 5: Configure the Spring XML

Define the bean in the Spring XML file and register the init-method and destroy-method.

spring.xml

Explanation:

• init-method="init"-> calls init() after bean creation.
• destroy-method="destroy" -> calls destroy() before container shutdown.

Step 6: Create Driver Class

We need to create a driver class to run this bean.

Explanation:

• ClassPathXmlApplicationContext loads Spring context and beans.
• context.close() triggers the destroy() method.

Step 7: Run the Application

Run the driver class to observe the execution of the bean’s initialization and destruction methods.

• Right-click Client.java -> Run 'Client.main()'.

Output:

2. Using Programmatic Approach (Interface)

In this approach, a Spring bean can define custom initialization and destruction logic by implementing two Spring-provided interfaces: InitializingBean and DisposableBean.

• afterPropertiesSet(): called after the bean is created and dependencies are injected.
• destroy(): called just before the Spring container is closed.

Note: To trigger the destroy() method, we must explicitly close the Spring container using ConfigurableApplicationContext.close().

Step 1: Create the Project

Create a Maven project in IntelliJ IDEA with the required GroupId, ArtifactId, and Java version.

• Open IntelliJ IDEA
• Click New Project -> Maven
• Select JDK (Java 8 / 11 / 17)
• Enter:
• GroupId: beans
• ArtifactId: SpringLifecycleDemo
• Click Finish

Step 2: Project Structure

Arrange the project into standard Maven folders for Java source files and resource files.

Step 3: Add Spring Dependency (pom.xml)

Add the spring-context dependency in pom.xml to enable Spring core and lifecycle support.

Step 4: Create the Bean Class

Implement InitializingBean and DisposableBean in the bean class to define custom initialization and destruction logic.

HelloWorld.java

Explanation:

• afterPropertiesSet() runs automatically after bean creation.
• destroy() runs automatically before the container shuts down.

Step 5: Configure the Spring XML File

Define the bean in spring.xml so that Spring can manage its lifecycle.

spring.xml

Explanation:

• Registers HelloWorld as a Spring-managed bean.
• No need to specify init or destroy methods explicitly.

Step 6: Create the Driver Class

Load the Spring container using ClassPathXmlApplicationContext to initialize the bean. Close the ConfigurableApplicationContext to trigger the destroy() lifecycle method.

Client.java

Explanation:

• Loads the Spring container.
• Closing the container triggers the destroy() method.

Step 7: Run the Application

Run the driver class to observe the execution of initialization and destruction methods.

• Right-click on Client.java
• Click Run

Output:

Note: This approach tightly couples the bean with Spring APIs, so it is not recommended for modern applications.

3. Using Annotations

In this approach, Spring provides lifecycle management using annotations instead of interfaces or XML configuration.

• @PostConstruct -> called after the bean is created and dependencies are injected.
• @PreDestroy->called just before the bean is destroyed.

Note: To invoke the destroy() method we have to call the close() method of ConfigurableApplicationContext.

Step 1: Create the Project

1. Open IntelliJ IDEA
2. Click New Project -> Maven
3. Select JDK (Java 8 / 11 / 17)
4. Enter: GroupId: beans, ArtifactId: SpringAnnotationLifecycleDemo
5. Click Finish

Step 2: Project Structure

Step 3: Add Required Dependencies

Step 4: Create the Bean Class

Create a simple bean class and use lifecycle annotations.

HelloWorld.java

Explanation:

• @PostConstruct runs after the bean is instantiated and dependencies are injected.
• @PreDestroy runs just before the bean is destroyed.

Step 5: Enable Annotation Support (XML)

Enable annotation processing in the Spring XML file.

spring.xml

Explanation:

• CommonAnnotationBeanPostProcessor is enabled internally.
• Activates @PostConstruct and @PreDestroy annotations.

Step 6: Create the Driver Class

Create a class to load and close the Spring container.

Client.java

Step 7: Run the Application

• Right-click on Client.java
• Click Run

Output:

Note:

• This method is preferred for modern Spring and Spring Boot applications.
• No need to implement Spring-specific interfaces, keeping the bean clean and portable.