What are the differences between Spring and Spring Boot frameworks in Java application development?

Spring is a powerful and flexible framework for developing Java applications, providing infrastructure for dependency injection, transaction management, data handling, and much more.

Spring Boot is a layer on top of Spring that simplifies the configuration and deployment of applications. It offers:

• Auto-configuration, reducing the need to write a lot of configuration code.
• Built-in server (e.g., Tomcat), allowing the application to run as a standalone jar.
• Pre-configured dependencies and templates for quick startup.

In other words, Spring is an ecosystem, and Spring Boot is a tool for rapid and convenient development of Spring-based applications with minimal configuration.