Difference between the annotations @GetMapping and @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET)

What's the difference between @GetMapping and @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET)?
I've seen in some Spring Reactive examples, that @GetMapping was used instead of @RequestMapping

@GetMapping is a composed annotation that acts as a shortcut for @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET).

@GetMapping is the newer annotaion. It supports consumes

Consume options are :

consumes = "text/plain"
consumes = {"text/plain", "application/*"}

For Further details see: GetMapping Annotation

or read: request mapping variants

RequestMapping supports consumes as well

GetMapping we can apply only on method level and RequestMapping annotation we can apply on class level and as well as on method level

As you can see here:

Specifically, @GetMapping is a composed annotation that acts as a shortcut for @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET).

Difference between @GetMapping & @RequestMapping

@GetMapping supports the consumes attribute like @RequestMapping.

@RequestMapping is a class level

@GetMapping is a method-level

With sprint Spring 4.3. and up things have changed. Now you can use @GetMapping on the method that will handle the http request. The class-level @RequestMapping specification is refined with the (method-level)@GetMapping annotation

Here is an example:

@Slf4j
@Controller
@RequestMapping("/orders")/* The @Request-Mapping annotation, when applied
                            at the class level, specifies the kind of requests 
                            that this controller handles*/  

public class OrderController {

@GetMapping("/current")/*@GetMapping paired with the classlevel
                        @RequestMapping, specifies that when an 
                        HTTP GET request is received for /order, 
                        orderForm() will be called to handle the request..*/

public String orderForm(Model model) {

model.addAttribute("order", new Order());

return "orderForm";
}
}

Prior to Spring 4.3, it was @RequestMapping(method=RequestMethod.GET)

Extra reading from a book authored by Craig Walls

Short answer:

There is no difference in semantic.

Specifically, @GetMapping is a composed annotation that acts as a shortcut for @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET).

Further reading:

RequestMapping can be used at class level:

This annotation can be used both at the class and at the method level. In most cases, at the method level applications will prefer to use one of the HTTP method specific variants @GetMapping, @PostMapping, @PutMapping, @DeleteMapping, or @PatchMapping.

while GetMapping only applies to method:

Annotation for mapping HTTP GET requests onto specific handler methods.

https://docs.spring.io/spring-framework/docs/current/javadoc-api/org/springframework/web/bind/annotation/GetMapping.html

https://docs.spring.io/spring-framework/docs/current/javadoc-api/org/springframework/web/bind/annotation/RequestMapping.html