Spring Bean Initialization and Disposal Lifecycle | Generated by AI

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Question: What are Disposable Bean and Initialization Bean in Spring?

Answer:

In Spring Framework, these two concepts refer to the lifecycle callback methods that let you run custom code at specific points in a bean’s life:

Concept Correct Spring Term When it is called Main annotation Interface Typical usage examples
Initialization Bean Bean initialization method After dependencies are injected and bean is created (but before it’s fully ready for use) @PostConstruct InitializingBean Setting default values, loading config, opening connections, validating state
Disposable Bean Bean destruction method When the container is shutting down (or when the bean is removed from context) @PreDestroy DisposableBean Closing database connections, releasing files, stopping threads, cleanup resources

Most Common & Recommended Ways (Modern Spring)

@Component
public class MyService {

    @PostConstruct
    public void init() {
        // runs once after bean creation + dependency injection
        System.out.println("Initializing MyService...");
        // e.g. warm up cache, open connection pool, etc.
    }

    @PreDestroy
    public void cleanup() {
        // runs when application context is closing
        System.out.println("Cleaning up MyService...");
        // e.g. close connections, flush buffers, stop background tasks
    }
}

Older / Classic Style (Still works, but less used today)

@Component
public class LegacyService 
    implements InitializingBean, DisposableBean {

    @Override
    public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
        // same as @PostConstruct
    }

    @Override
    public void destroy() throws Exception {
        // same as @PreDestroy
    }
}

Full Spring Bean Lifecycle (simplified)

  1. Instantiate bean
  2. Populate properties (dependency injection)
  3. BeanNameAware / BeanFactoryAware / ApplicationContextAware callbacks
  4. @PostConstruct or afterPropertiesSet()
  5. Bean is ready and put into service
  6. (long time passes – bean is used)
  7. Container shutdown begins
  8. @PreDestroy or destroy()
  9. Bean is destroyed

Quick Comparison Table – Which should you use?

Style Recommended in 2024–2025? Pros Cons Most common in new code?
@PostConstruct / @PreDestroy Yes – strongly preferred Clean, no interface needed, Jakarta EE standard None for most cases Yes
InitializingBean / DisposableBean No (legacy) Very old Spring apps still use it Forces interface implementation No
@Bean(initMethod=…, destroyMethod=…) Sometimes Useful when you don’t own the class More verbose, error-prone strings Occasional

Bottom line for new code (2025+):

Use @PostConstruct for initialization and @PreDestroy for cleanup — they are the cleanest, most widely understood, and framework-agnostic approach.

References:

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