The key to the new release is that it gives you new options for configuration, explained SpringSource founder and CEO Rod Johnson.
The new support of Java Annotations lets Spring framework users switch back and forth between Annotations and Spring’s own external XML descriptors. The new version of the framework includes a facility to auto-detect Java Annotations and convert them to Spring’s own XML descriptors.
The combining of Spring’s MVC helps flush out its Web Flow offering, which models navigation through a web application. The new version also adds integration with JSF. Finally, support for OSGi makes the framework itself more modular. You can use OSGi to hot swap different Spring libraries without taking the system offline.
Version 2.5 of the Spring framework is available now.
