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Spring Boot VS Play Framework

Compare Spring Boot VS Play Framework and see what are their differences

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Spring Boot logo Spring Boot

Create Spring-powered, production-grade applications and services with absolute minimum fuss

Play Framework logo Play Framework

An open source web framework which follows the model-view-controller architecture. It is light-weight, web-friendly, and stateless. It provides minimal overhead for highly-scalable applications.
  • Spring Boot Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-11
  • Play Framework Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-23

Spring Boot features and specs

  • Rapid Development
    Spring Boot simplifies the process of setting up and developing new Spring applications with a range of out-of-the-box configurations and defaults.
  • Microservices Support
    Ideal for developing microservices architecture thanks to its embedded servers, simplified setup, and streamlined deployment process.
  • Strong Community and Ecosystem
    Backed by a large and active community, and supported by a wide variety of extensions and plugins, enhancing its capability and support.
  • Embedded Servers
    Supports embedded servers such as Tomcat, Jetty, and Undertow, which simplifies deployment and reduces configuration complexity.
  • Auto-Configuration
    Automatically configures most of the application’s components, reducing the need for manual setup and configuration.
  • Easy Integration
    Facilitates easy integration with various data sources, messaging systems, and other enterprise systems via Spring’s extensive ecosystem.
  • Production-Ready Features
    Includes various production-ready features like health checks, metrics, externalized configuration, and monitoring, making it easy to manage applications in production.

Possible disadvantages of Spring Boot

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its benefits, Spring Boot has a complex learning curve for beginners due to its extensive range of features and options.
  • Resource Consumption
    Spring Boot applications can sometimes be resource-intensive, potentially leading to higher costs in terms of memory and CPU usage.
  • Complexity in Large Projects
    While Spring Boot is great for simpler projects, it can become overly complex and harder to manage in very large applications with numerous dependencies and configurations.
  • Limited Flexibility with Embedded Servers
    While using embedded servers is convenient, it can also limit flexibility and control over server configuration and behaviors compared to standalone server setups.
  • Dependency Management
    Although auto-configuration is a significant advantage, it can sometimes lead to confusion or conflicts in dependency management, making troubleshooting more challenging.
  • Performance Overhead
    The auto-configuration and abstraction layers, while simplifying development, can introduce performance overhead, which might not be desirable in high-performance and fine-tuned applications.

Play Framework features and specs

  • Scalability
    The Play Framework is built with scalability in mind, making it easier to develop applications that can handle a large number of simultaneous users and requests.
  • Reactive Programming
    Play is based on a reactive programming model, which allows it to handle asynchronous tasks efficiently. This results in better performance and resource utilization.
  • Hot Reloading
    Play supports hot reloading, enabling developers to see changes in real-time without needing to restart the server. This feature boosts productivity by speeding up the development cycle.
  • Java and Scala Support
    The framework supports both Java and Scala, accommodating a wide range of developers and allowing teams to choose their preferred language.
  • Built-in Testing
    Play has built-in support for writing unit and functional tests, offering a comprehensive test framework to ensure code quality and reliability.
  • RESTful by Default
    Play makes it straightforward to build RESTful web services, simplifying the construction of APIs and ensuring that they adhere to REST principles.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The Play Framework boasts extensive and detailed documentation, making it easier for developers to get started and find solutions to common problems.

Possible disadvantages of Play Framework

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New developers might find Play’s reactive model and functional programming concepts challenging, especially if they are primarily experienced with traditional web frameworks.
  • Memory Usage
    Play applications can be memory-intensive, which might lead to higher hosting costs compared to lighter frameworks, especially for smaller applications.
  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up and configuring a Play application can be complex and time-consuming, particularly for beginners or small teams without extensive experience.
  • Limited Community Support
    Although Play has a dedicated user base, its community is smaller compared to more popular web frameworks like Spring or Django, potentially making it difficult to find solutions and community-driven resources.
  • Verbose Code
    Play applications may require a significant amount of boilerplate code, particularly when integrating with other services or libraries, leading to potentially verbose and less maintainable codebases.

Spring Boot videos

No Spring Boot videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Play Framework videos

The Play Framework at LinkedIn: Productivity and Performance at Scale

Category Popularity

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Project Management
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Web Frameworks
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100% 100
No Code
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Developer Tools
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User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Spring Boot and Play Framework

Spring Boot Reviews

The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
Spring Boot — Java developers’ shortcut to a galaxy of applications. It’s a leap forward, ditching the boilerplate, no longer about “all the setup”, it’s about “all the creation”.

Play Framework Reviews

The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
Play Framework brings Scala and Java into harmony, offering a backstage pass to simplistic, asynchronous web development. No song and dance, just straightforward high-octane performance.
17 Popular Java Frameworks for 2023: Pros, cons, and more
The Play Framework makes it possible to build lightweight and web-friendly Java and Scala applications for desktop and mobile. Play is a hugely popular framework, used by brands such as LinkedIn, Samsung, Walmart, The Guardian, Verizon, and many others.
Source: raygun.com
10 Best Java Frameworks You Should Know
Play is written using Scala Programming Language. It offers web and mobile application development. It follows MVC architecture. Play is compiled to Java-Bytecode, and this makes Play one of the most powerful frameworks.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Play Framework seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Spring Boot mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Spring Boot yet. Tracking of Spring Boot recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Play Framework mentions (1)

  • Examples of CompletableFuture-based APIs / state of async in Java?
    I can see the Play framework really leans into async, and only tolerates blocking controllers. What else is out there? Source: over 1 year ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Spring Boot and Play Framework, you can also consider the following products

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ASP.NET - ASP.NET is a free web framework for building great Web sites and Web applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Metavine Platform - Metavine Platform is a comprehensive Platform-as-a-Service that help businesses build agility and compete effectively in the digital world by enabling them to iterate and create apps quickly.

Adonis JS - AdonisJs is a Node.js web framework with breath of fresh air and drizzle of elegant syntax on top of it