Difference between spring @Controller and @RestController annotation

Difference between spring @Controller and @RestController annotation.

Can @Controller annotation be used for both Web MVC and REST applications?
If yes, how can we differentiate if it is Web MVC or REST application.

• @Controller is used to mark classes as Spring MVC Controller.
• @RestController is a convenience annotation that does nothing more than adding the @Controller and @ResponseBody annotations (see: Javadoc)

So the following two controller definitions should do the same

@Controller
@ResponseBody
public class MyController { }

@RestController
public class MyRestController { }

In the code below I'll show you the difference between @controller

@Controller
public class RestClassName{

  @RequestMapping(value={"/uri"})
  @ResponseBody
  public ObjectResponse functionRestName(){
      //...
      return instance
   }
}

and @RestController

@RestController
public class RestClassName{

  @RequestMapping(value={"/uri"})
  public ObjectResponse functionRestName(){
      //...
      return instance
   }
}

the @ResponseBody is activated by default. You don't need to add it above the function signature.

If you use @RestController you cannot return a view (By using Viewresolver in Spring/springboot) and yes @ResponseBody is not needed in this case.

If you use @Controller you can return a view in Spring web MVC.