Spring key points

IOC or inversion of control / DI or dependency injection?
                 This Spring interview question is first step towards Spring framework and many interviewer starts Spring interview from this question. As the name implies Inversion of control means now we have inverted the control of creating the object from our own using new operator to container or framework. Now it’s the responsibility of container to create object as required. We maintain one xml file where we configure our components, services, all the classes and their property. We just need to mention which service is needed by which component and container will create the object for us. This concept is known as dependency injection because all object dependency (resources) is injected into it by framework.
Example:
  <bean id="createNewStock" class="springexample.stockMarket.CreateNewStockAccont">
        <property name="newBid"/>
  </bean>
In this example CreateNewStockAccont class contain getter and setter for newBid and container will instantiate newBid and set the value automatically when it is used. This whole process is also called wiring in Spring and by using annotation it can be done automatically by Spring, refereed as auto-wiring of bean in Spring.
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AOP?
      The core construct of AOP is the aspect, which encapsulates behaviors affecting multiple classes into reusable modules. AOP is a programming technique that allows developer to modularize crosscutting concerns,  that cuts across the typical divisions of responsibility, such as logging and transaction management. Spring AOP, aspects are implemented using regular classes or regular classes annotated with the @Aspect annotation
Jointpoint?
    A joinpoint is a point in the execution of the application where an aspect can be plugged in. This point could be a method being called, an exception being thrown, or even a field being modified. These are the points where your aspect’s code can be inserted into the normal flow of your application to add new behavior.
Advice?
    Advice is the implementation of an aspect. It is something like telling your application of a new behavior. Generally, and advice is inserted into an application at joinpoints.
Pointcut?
    A pointcut is something that defines at what joinpoints an advice should be applied. Advices can be applied at any joinpoint that is supported by the AOP framework. These Pointcuts allow you to specify where the advice can be applied.
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Core container module?
       This module is provides the fundamental functionality of the spring framework. In this module BeanFactory is the heart of any spring-based application. The entire framework was built on the top of this module. This module makes the Spring container.
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Application context module?
       The Application context module makes spring a framework. This module extends the concept of BeanFactory, providing support for internationalization (I18N) messages, application lifecycle events, and validation. This module also supplies many enterprise services such JNDI access, EJB integration, remoting, and scheduling. It also provides support to other framework.