What is the difference between @Service and @Component annotations in Spring?

In the Spring Framework, the annotations @Component and @Service are both used for registering beans in the Spring context but have different semantic purposes:

• @Component is a generic annotation for any Spring component. It simply indicates that the class is a candidate for automatic detection and registration as a Spring Bean.

• @Service is a specialized annotation that is a subclass of @Component. It is used to denote the service layer, i.e., classes that implement business logic.

The main difference is semantic and helps better structure the code and understand the purpose of classes. Also, some tools and aspects may handle beans with @Service differently (for example, for transactions).

Example:

@Service
public class UserService {
    // business logic
}

@Component
public class UtilityHelper {
    // helper methods
}

Thus, @Service is a specialized @Component with an emphasis on business logic.