Deep comparison and analysis of SpringBoot

1. Differences in basic concepts and grammar

1.1 The essential difference between file formats

：

• Adopt traditional key-value pair format
• Follow Java standard attribute file specifications
• Each line represents an independent configuration item
• Use equal sign (=) or colon (:) to separate key values

Example:

=8080
=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mydb

：

• In YAML (YAML Ain’t Markup Language) format
• Use indentation to represent hierarchical relationships
• Support complex data structures
• Use colon plus space (: ) to separate key values

Example:

server:
  port: 8080
spring:
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mydb

1.2 Comparison of syntax structures

2. In-depth comparison of functional characteristics

2.1 Complex data structure support

YAML Advantage Scenario:

spring:
  profiles:
    active: dev
  redis:
    cluster:
      nodes:
        - 192.168.1.1:7001
        - 192.168.1.2:7002
        - 192.168.1.3:7003
    timeout: 3000

The equivalent properties represent:

=dev
[0]=192.168.1.1:7001
[1]=192.168.1.2:7002
[2]=192.168.1.3:7003
=3000

2.2 Multi-document block support (YAML-specific)

YAML can be used in a single file---separate multiple configuration blocks:

# Public configurationspring:
  application:
    name: myapp

---
#Development environment configurationspring:
  profiles: dev
server:
  port: 8080

---
# Production environment configurationspring:
  profiles: prod
server:
  port: 80

2.3 Type system processing differences

YAML natural support type inference:

# Automatically recognize as a numeric valueport: 8080  
# Explicit stringsversion: "2023" 
# Boolean valueenabled: true

Properties require a specific format:

# Valueport=8080
# stringversion=2023
# Boolean valueenabled=true

3. Comparison of practical application scenarios

3.1 Readability comparison

Simple configuration:

# Properties are more compact=INFO
=DEBUG

# YAML level is clearerlogging:
  level:
    root: INFO
    : DEBUG

Complex configuration:

# YAML has obvious advantagesspring:
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/db
    username: user
    password: pass
    hikari:
      pool-name: my-pool
      maximum-pool-size: 10

Equivalent properties:

=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/db
=user
=pass
-name=my-pool
-pool-size=10

3.2 Maintenance cost analysis

3.3 Performance considerations

Resolution efficiency at startup:

• Properties file parsing is slightly faster than YAML
• The actual difference is small (millisecond level), usually negligible

Memory usage:

• The memory usage is slightly higher after YAML parsing
• The impact on modern applications is negligible

4. Best practices and conversion suggestions

4.1 Selection criteria

It is recommended to use YAML when:

• More than 20 configuration items
• There are complex nested structures
• Multi-environment configuration separation is required
• Team is familiar with YAML syntax

Recommended use of properties when:

• Extremely simple configuration (less than 10 items)
• Need to be compatible with the old system
• Team members are not familiar with YAML

4.2 Mixed usage strategy

Spring Boot allows two format files to exist at the same time, with priority:

• application-{profile}.properties
• application-{profile}.yml

Recommended practices:

• The main configuration uses YAML
• Use properties for coverage configurations for specific environments

4.3 Conversion tool example

import yaml
import re

def properties_to_yaml(prop_str):
    data = {}
    for line in prop_str.split('\n'):
        if '=' in line and not ().startswith('#'):
            key, value = ('=', 1)
            keys = ('.')
            current = data
            for k in keys[:-1]:
                current = (k, {})
            current[keys[-1]] = ()
    return (data, sort_keys=False)

# Example conversionprint(properties_to_yaml("""
=8080
=jdbc:mysql://localhost/db
"""))

5. Advanced Feature Comparison

5.1 Spring Cloud configuration support

YAML Advantages:

# Unified management of multi-service configurationspring:
  cloud:
    config:
      server:
        git:
          uri: /config-repo
          search-paths:
            - '{application}'
          username: git-user
          password: git-pass

5.2 Security considerations

Sensitive information processing:

# Both formats support environment variable replacementpassword: ${DB_PASSWORD}

YAML Trap:

# May be parsed as a booleanenabled: off  # → false
enabled: "off" # → string "off"

5.3 IDE support comparison

IntelliJ IDEA：

• Both are automatically completed
• YAML has better hierarchical navigation
• Properties has more mature reconstruction support

VS Code：

• Requires installation of YAML extension
• Both have grammatical highlights
• Properties' linting is more accurate

6. Conclusion and recommendation

6.1 Technical selection suggestions

For new projects:

• It is recommended to use YAML as the main configuration format
• Utilize its structured advantages to improve maintainability
• Keep a small number of properties files for simple overwrite

For existing projects:

• Gradually migrate complex configurations to YAML
• Simple configuration to maintain properties format
• Avoid maintaining two complete sets of configurations at the same time

6.2 Future Trends

YAML has become the de facto standard in the cloud native ecosystem

Popularization of platforms such as Kubernetes promotes the use of YAML

But properties will still exist for a long time in simple scenarios

6.3 Ultimate Comparison Summary

The final choice should be based on: project complexity, team familiarity and long-term maintenance considerations. For most modern Spring Boot applications, YAML provides an improved configuration management experience.

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