When it comes to Spring specific pros and cons:
Constructor injection (from the definition) does not allow you to create circular dependencies between beans. This limitation is actually an advantage of constructor injection - Spring can resolve circular dependencies when setter injection is used without you even noticing.
On the other hand if you use constructor injection CGLIB is not able to create a proxy, forcing you to either use interface-based proxies or a dummy no-arg constructor. See: SPR-3150
Structuremap
structuremap.github.io › setter-injection
StructureMap - Setter Injection
In all cases, Setter Injection is an opt-in feature in StructureMap that has to be explicitly enabled on a case by case basis.
Spring
spring.io › blog › 2007 › 07 › 11 › setter-injection-versus-constructor-injection-and-the-use-of-required
Setter injection versus constructor injection and the use of @Required
July 11, 2007 - The question of course now is, ... injection to enforce required dependencies, if it is the simplest way to get the job done! There are two reasons for this--one is a bit more historical, the other being the nature of the Spring Framework itself. Early 2003, when Spring was first published as an open source project, it primarily focused on setter ...
dependency injection - Setter DI vs. Constructor DI in Spring? - Stack Overflow
Granted, constructor DI will do ... a setter right after constructing the object, but it does not make any difference for the developer in terms of performance, etc. Both also offer means to specify the order of dependency injection as well. I'm looking for a scenario where one provides a distinct advantage over the other or where one type is completely ... More on stackoverflow.com
When to use Constructor Injection vs. Setter Injection
Never use setter injection. At least, never use it as much as possible. Reason being that it encourages mutability. You should always aim for complete immutability. More on reddit.com
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March 18, 2023Field injection is fine, convince me otherwise
Immutability. Constructor injection into private final fields makes the injected properties of your classes immutable, making runtime behaviour more predictable. **Edit there's some valid criticism of this post below, my comment is not well worded and could easily be misconstrued. More on reddit.com
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September 8, 2023Avoid private field dependency injection - here is why - Techblog - Hostmoz
I just take dependencies in the constructor. Works every time. More on reddit.com
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March 4, 2021Videos
23:58
Spring Constructor and Setter Injection with Example - Easy ...
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constructor vs setter injection in spring | partial dependency ...
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Setter & Constructor Injection in SPRING : Injecting literal values ...
02:42
What is the difference between constructor injection and setter ...
Constructor & Setter Injections demystified : Dependency ...
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Stop Using Setter Injection! Why Constructor Injection is Better ...
Educative
educative.io › answers › what-is-setter-injection
What is setter injection?
Setter injection is a dependency injection technique that involves injecting dependencies into a class through setter methods. This approach sets the dependencies through the class’s public setter methods after the object has been instantiated.
Springbyexample
springbyexample.org › examples › intro-to-ioc-basic-setter-injection.html
3. Basic Setter Injection
Setter injection uses the set* methods in a class file to garner property names that are configurable in the spring XML config.
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When it comes to Spring specific pros and cons:
Constructor injection (from the definition) does not allow you to create circular dependencies between beans. This limitation is actually an advantage of constructor injection - Spring can resolve circular dependencies when setter injection is used without you even noticing.
On the other hand if you use constructor injection CGLIB is not able to create a proxy, forcing you to either use interface-based proxies or a dummy no-arg constructor. See: SPR-3150
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You should be deciding based on design considerations, not tool (Spring) considerations. Unfortunately, Spring has trained us to use setter injection because when it was originally conceived, there was no such thing as an "annotation" in Java, and in XML, setter injection works and looks much better. Today, we're freed from those constraints, thus allowing it to be a design decision again. Your beans should use constructor injection for any dependencies that are required by the bean and setter injection for dependencies that are optional and have a reasonable default, more or less as OOD has been telling us from the beginning.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Dependency_injection
Dependency injection - Wikipedia
3 weeks ago - Method Injection, where dependencies are provided to a method only when required for specific functionality. Setter injection, where the client exposes a setter method which accepts the dependency.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/springboot › when to use constructor injection vs. setter injection
r/SpringBoot on Reddit: When to use Constructor Injection vs. Setter Injection
March 18, 2023 -
A well explained article on 'When to use Constructor Injection vs. Setter Injection?'
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Never use setter injection. At least, never use it as much as possible. Reason being that it encourages mutability. You should always aim for complete immutability.
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Springs own documentation explicitly states that constructor injection is preferred. That's all you need to know.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › advance java › spring-dependency-injection-by-setter-method
Spring - Dependency Injection by Setter Method - GeeksforGeeks
Constructor-Based Dependency Injection: Dependencies are injected using a constructor. Setter-Based Dependency Injection: Dependencies are injected using setter methods.
Published October 30, 2025
Blogger
javarevisited.blogspot.com › 2012 › 11 › difference-between-setter-injection-vs-constructor-injection-spring-framework.html
Difference between Setter vs Constructor Injection in Spring
So spring can resolve circular dependencies through setter-injection. Objects constructed before setter methods invoked. ... Javin @ prime number in Java said... Thanks Murali, That make sense, but circular dependency is a not a good idea, and one should remove it altogether.
amitph
amitph.com › home › spring › spring setter dependency injection example
Spring Setter Dependency Injection Example | amitph
November 22, 2024 - Spring Setter Injection is nothing but injecting the Bean Dependencies using the Setter methods on an Object.
TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com › spring › setter_based_dependency_injection.htm
Spring - Setter-based Dependency Injection
Setter-based DI is accomplished by the container calling setter methods on your beans after invoking a no-argument constructor or no-argument static factory method to instantiate your bean. The following example shows a class TextEditor that can only be dependency-injected using pure setter-based ...
Spring
docs.spring.io › spring-framework › reference › core › beans › dependencies › factory-collaborators.html
Dependency Injection :: Spring Framework
Setter-based DI is accomplished by the container calling setter methods on your beans after invoking a no-argument constructor or a no-argument static factory method to instantiate your bean. The following example shows a class that can only be dependency-injected by using pure setter injection.
Smartprogramming
smartprogramming.in › tutorials › spring-framework › dependency-injection-using-setter-method-in-spring
Dependency Injection using Setter Method in Spring
Setter Method Injection is an effective method for injecting dependencies in Spring Framework. Learn how to use setter methods to set dependencies after object creation, providing flexibility and optional dependency injection.
Picocontainer
picocontainer.com › setter-injection.html
PicoContainer - Setter Injection
Setter Injection is where the container or embedder hands dependencies to a component via setter methods after instantiation.
Reflectoring
reflectoring.io › constructor-injection
Why You Should Use Constructor Injection in Spring
March 28, 2020 - In setter-based injection, we provide the required dependencies as field parameters to the class and the values are set using the setter methods of the properties. We have to annotate the setter method with the @Autowired annotation.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › java › spring-setter-injection
Spring Setter Injection - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - Setter Dependency injection is used to inject dependencies by setter methods. In setter method (DI), Spring calls the setter method of the class after creating the object, to inject the required dependency for a class.
TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com › difference-between-constructor-injection-and-setter-injection-in-spring
Difference Between Constructor Injection and Setter Injection in Spring
Let’s say Class X is tightly dependent on Class Y then we should use constructor based injection. Setter based Injection - It can be used by calling setter methods on your beans.
Medium
medium.com › @programmingsolutions750 › constructor-injection-vs-setter-injection-spring-interview-question-explained-with-examples-e09dc53ed3d2
Constructor Injection vs Setter Injection: Spring Interview Question Explained with Examples | by FullStack With Ram | Medium
September 29, 2025 - While both serve the same purpose — injecting dependencies — they differ in when and how dependencies are assigned, leading to different design choices. Constructor Injection enforces immutability and ensures mandatory dependencies, whereas Setter Injection allows flexibility with optional ones.
Laurspilca
laurspilca.com › comparison-field-constructor-setter-injection
A comparison of field, constructor, and setter injection in Spring – LaurSpilca
But @Inject is pretty rare, so let’s consider @Autowired for our current example. The @Autowired annotation can be used in three ways: annotate the field you want to assign a reference from Spring context (field dependency injection) annotate the constructor of the class and Spring will set the bean references in the constructor’s parameters when calling that constructor (constructor dependency injection) annotate the setter, and Spring will set the reference by calling that specific setter method (setter dependency injection).
Java Guides
javaguides.net › 2023 › 01 › spring-boot-setter-injection-example.html
Spring Boot Setter Injection Example
April 4, 2023 - Setter injection uses the setter method to inject dependency on any Spring-managed bean.