WebFlux vs Spring MVC: Key Differences

WebFlux and Spring MVC are two approaches within the Spring Framework for handling web requests.

1. Asynchronous programming model:
2. Spring MVC is developed based on the Servlet API and uses a synchronous processing model, where each request occupies a thread until it is processed, potentially leading to a waste of thread resources.
3. WebFlux is developed based on the Reactor’s reactive programming model, using a non-blocking processing model that allows for handling a large number of requests with a small number of threads, thus optimizing system resources and enhancing concurrency capabilities.
4. Reactive programming:
5. Spring MVC is suitable for handling traditional synchronous request-response scenarios, but may not perform as well as WebFlux for a large number of I/O-intensive operations.
6. WebFlux supports reactive programming, making it suitable for handling high concurrency and high load scenarios, ideal for applications that require handling a large number of non-blocking I/O operations.
7. Programming model:
8. The controller methods in Spring MVC return an object that will be serialized into JSON or other formats before being sent back to the client.
9. The controller methods of WebFlux return either a Mono or Flux object, which are reactive processing types in the Reactor framework that support asynchronous and streaming processing.

In general, WebFlux is more suitable for handling scenarios with high concurrency, high loads, and non-blocking I/O operations, while Spring MVC is more suitable for traditional synchronous request-response scenarios. The choice of which approach to use depends on the project’s requirements and performance needs.