nBeanFactories are the heart of Spring
nLightweight container that loads bean definitions and
manages your beans. Knows how to
serve and manage a singleton or prototype defined bean
nResponsible for lifecycle methods.
nInjects dependencies into defined beans when served
nThe Factory
Pattern: one object is responsible for
creating and maintaining the
lifecycle of another object.
nA BeanFactory is typically
configured declaratively in an XML
file, or files, with the root element: <beans>. That file determine how beans can be referenced and wired together and contains one or more <bean> elements
nid (or name) attribute to identify the bean
nclass attribute to specify the fully qualified
class
nBy default, beans are treated as singletons, but can also be prototypes