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Responsebody, Controller, Restcontroller

@Controller is used to create web pages that return HTML, while @RestController is designed for creating REST APIs that return JSON or plain text. The @ResponseBody annotation indicates that a method should return data directly in the HTTP response body instead of a view. The document provides examples and guidelines on when to use each annotation effectively.

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25 views3 pages

Responsebody, Controller, Restcontroller

@Controller is used to create web pages that return HTML, while @RestController is designed for creating REST APIs that return JSON or plain text. The @ResponseBody annotation indicates that a method should return data directly in the HTTP response body instead of a view. The document provides examples and guidelines on when to use each annotation effectively.

Uploaded by

sthaheer974
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

@ResponseBody

@Controller

@RestController

Let’s learn these step by step with analogy, code examples, and clear differences.

🧠 First, Understand the Basics:


📌 @Controller
Used to create Web Pages (like HTML using Thymeleaf).

📌 @RestController
Used to create REST APIs (returns JSON or plain text, not HTML).

📌 @ResponseBody
Tells Spring:

"Don't return a view (HTML page). Instead, return the actual data (like JSON or String) in the HTTP
response body."

✅ Analogy
Imagine you're a waiter in a restaurant:

Annotation What It Does

@Controller Returns a view page (like an HT

@ResponseBody Returns data (JSON/text) instea

@RestController Combines @Controller + @Re

💡 1. @Controller Example (Returns HTML View)

java Copy Edit


@Controller public class PageController { @GetMapping("/home") public String homePage() {
return "home"; // returns "home.html" page from templates folder } }

✅ You must have a file home.html in src/main/resources/templates .

💡 2. @Controller + @ResponseBody Example (Returns Text)

java Copy Edit

@Controller public class HelloController { @GetMapping("/hello") @ResponseBody public


String sayHello() { return "Hello, Naziya!"; } }

✅ This returns plain text:


Copy Edit

Hello, Naziya!

No HTML file needed.

💡 3. @RestController Example (Shortcut for JSON APIs)

java Copy Edit

@RestController public class ApiController { @GetMapping("/api/welcome") public String


welcome() { return "Welcome to Spring Boot REST API!"; } }

✅ Same output as above, but simpler. No need to write @ResponseBody .

🎯 Summary Table
Annotation Returns

@Controller HTML Page

@Controller + @ResponseBody Text or JSON

@RestController Text or JSON


✅ When to Use What?
Use @Controller when building a web page (like login page, dashboard).
Use @RestController when building a REST API (for frontend, mobile apps, Postman, etc).
Use @ResponseBody only if you want to return data from a @Controller class.

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