Spring @RestControllerAdvice When and Why?

@RestControllerAdvice annotation is the composition of two annotations: 1- @ControllerAdvice and 2- @ResponseBody. In this article we will talk about this annotation and the necessity of using it.

1- Understanding @ExceptionHandler

By using this annotation in a rest controller you can handle exceptions which is thrown in the same controller methods which are annotated by @GetMapping, @PostMapping, ... or @RequestMapping.

In this way they are some options for handling such exceptions like redirecting to an error page or returning custom error messages.

Or

2- Applying Exception Handler To Whole Project

As mentioned above @ExceptionHandler just worked in the same controller and if you have more than one controller you should apply above code (if you want to use@ExceptionHandler) to all controller.

But there is a better way, using :

@RestControllerAdvice or @ControllerAdvice

By using @RestControllerAdvice also you will have the features of @ResponseBody.

Usage: