Spring: split the application context

There are many reasons to declare beans in more than one XML file. The most important reason is to maintain clear code with a logical separation of concerns. Additionally, as an application grows, a single file becomes insufficient for configuration.

Splitting applicationContext.xml in Spring

web.xml

To split the content of applicationContext.xml, declare contextConfigLocation in web.xml:

<context-param> 
    <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name> 
    <param-value> 
        /WEB-INF/yourApplicationServices.xml, /WEB-INF/yourApplicationDatabase.xml 
    </param-value> 
</context-param> 

You can also use Ant-style patterns to load multiple files, e.g., /WEB-INF/yourApplication*.xml.

For more details, refer to the Spring reference documentation.