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WebApplicationInitializer

WebApplicationInitializer is an interface used in Spring Framework applications to programmatically configure the ServletContext, enabling code-based configuration as an alternative to the traditional web.xml file^[600-developer-java-spring-servletcontainerinitializer.md].

Implementation and Mechanism

This interface is implemented by SpringServletContainerInitializer, which itself acts as a bootstrapper.^[600-developer-java-spring-servletcontainerinitializer.md] The mechanism relies on the Servlet 3.0+ specification, which allows the web container to scan for specific entries at runtime.

To be discovered by the container, implementations must be registered in a specific file located at META-INF/services/javax.servlet.ServletContainerInitializer.^[600-developer-java-spring-servletcontainerinitializer.md] Inside this file, the fully qualified class name of the initializer (e.g., org.springframework.web.WebApplicationInitializer) must be declared.^[600-developer-java-spring-servletcontainerinitializer.md]

Sources

^[600-developer-java-spring-servletcontainerinitializer.md]