Spring Boot YAML vs Properties: Confronto Configurazioni e Domande da Colloquio 2026

# application.properties
server.port=8080
server.servlet.context-path=/api
spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/mydb
spring.datasource.username=admin
spring.datasource.password=${DB_PASSWORD}
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=validate
spring.jpa.show-sql=false

# application.yml
server:
  port: 8080
  servlet:
    context-path: /api

spring:
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/mydb
    username: admin
    password: ${DB_PASSWORD}
  jpa:
    hibernate:
      ddl-auto: validate
    show-sql: false

# Profili multipli in un singolo file
spring:
  profiles:
    active: development

---
spring:
  config:
    activate:
      on-profile: development
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:h2:mem:devdb
    driver-class-name: org.h2.Driver

logging:
  level:
    root: DEBUG
    com.example: TRACE

---
spring:
  config:
    activate:
      on-profile: production
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://prod-server:5432/proddb
    driver-class-name: org.postgresql.Driver

logging:
  level:
    root: WARN
    com.example: INFO

# application.properties
spring.profiles.active=dev
#---
spring.config.activate.on-profile=dev
server.port=8080
logging.level.root=DEBUG
#---
spring.config.activate.on-profile=prod
server.port=80
logging.level.root=WARN

# Lista di server
application:
  servers:
    - host: server1.example.com
      port: 8080
      ssl: true
    - host: server2.example.com
      port: 8081
      ssl: false

  allowed-origins:
    - https://example.com
    - https://app.example.com
    - https://admin.example.com

  features:
    authentication:
      enabled: true
      providers:
        - oauth2
        - ldap
    caching:
      enabled: true
      ttl: 3600

# Stessa configurazione in Properties
application.servers[0].host=server1.example.com
application.servers[0].port=8080
application.servers[0].ssl=true
application.servers[1].host=server2.example.com
application.servers[1].port=8081
application.servers[1].ssl=false

application.allowed-origins[0]=https://example.com
application.allowed-origins[1]=https://app.example.com
application.allowed-origins[2]=https://admin.example.com

application.features.authentication.enabled=true
application.features.authentication.providers[0]=oauth2
application.features.authentication.providers[1]=ldap
application.features.caching.enabled=true
application.features.caching.ttl=3600

import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
import java.util.List;

@Component
@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "application")
public class ApplicationConfig {
    
    private List<ServerConfig> servers;
    private List<String> allowedOrigins;
    private FeaturesConfig features;
    
    // Getters and setters
    
    public static class ServerConfig {
        private String host;
        private int port;
        private boolean ssl;
        
        // Getters and setters
    }
    
    public static class FeaturesConfig {
        private AuthConfig authentication;
        private CacheConfig caching;
        
        // Getters and setters
    }
    
    public static class AuthConfig {
        private boolean enabled;
        private List<String> providers;
        
        // Getters and setters
    }
    
    public static class CacheConfig {
        private boolean enabled;
        private int ttl;
        
        // Getters and setters
    }
}

# Override dei valori di configurazione
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL=jdbc:postgresql://prod:5432/db
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME=produser
export SERVER_PORT=9090

# Le liste possono essere separate da virgole
export APPLICATION_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://a.com,https://b.com

# Riferimento a variabili d'ambiente in YAML
spring:
  datasource:
    url: ${DB_URL:jdbc:h2:mem:default}
    username: ${DB_USER:sa}
    password: ${DB_PASSWORD:}

application:
  api-key: ${API_KEY}
  secret: ${APP_SECRET:default-secret}

import jakarta.validation.constraints.*;
import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
import org.springframework.validation.annotation.Validated;

@Validated
@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "application.security")
public class SecurityConfig {
    
    @NotBlank(message = "JWT secret is required")
    private String jwtSecret;
    
    @Min(value = 300, message = "Token expiration must be at least 5 minutes")
    @Max(value = 86400, message = "Token expiration cannot exceed 24 hours")
    private int tokenExpiration = 3600;
    
    @NotEmpty(message = "At least one allowed origin is required")
    private List<@URL String> allowedOrigins;
    
    @Email
    private String adminEmail;
    
    // Getters and setters
}

src/main/resources/
├── application.yml              # Configurazione comune
├── application-dev.yml          # Ambiente di sviluppo
├── application-staging.yml      # Ambiente di staging
├── application-prod.yml         # Ambiente di produzione
└── application-test.yml         # Ambiente di test

# application-prod.yml
spring:
  datasource:
    hikari:
      maximum-pool-size: 20
      minimum-idle: 5
      connection-timeout: 30000

logging:
  level:
    root: WARN
  file:
    name: /var/log/app/application.log

management:
  endpoints:
    web:
      exposure:
        include: health,info,metrics

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.PropertySource;

@Configuration
@PropertySource({
    "classpath:database.properties",
    "classpath:messaging.properties"
})
public class AdditionalConfig {
}

import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.YamlPropertiesFactoryBean;
import org.springframework.core.env.PropertiesPropertySource;
import org.springframework.core.io.support.EncodedResource;
import org.springframework.core.io.support.PropertySourceFactory;

import java.util.Properties;

public class YamlPropertySourceFactory implements PropertySourceFactory {
    
    @Override
    public org.springframework.core.env.PropertySource<?> createPropertySource(
            String name, EncodedResource resource) {
        YamlPropertiesFactoryBean factory = new YamlPropertiesFactoryBean();
        factory.setResources(resource.getResource());
        Properties properties = factory.getObject();
        String sourceName = name != null ? name : resource.getResource().getFilename();
        return new PropertiesPropertySource(sourceName, properties);
    }
}

# Utilizzo di Spring Cloud Config Server o Vault
spring:
  cloud:
    vault:
      uri: https://vault.example.com
      token: ${VAULT_TOKEN}
      kv:
        enabled: true
        backend: secret

  config:
    import:
      - vault://secret/application
      - vault://secret/database

# application.properties
spring.datasource.password=ENC(nrmZtkF7T0kjG/VodDvBw93Ct8EgjCA+)

# The master password is supplied at runtime, never committed
java -Djasypt.encryptor.password=$JASYPT_MASTER_KEY -jar app.jar

# Tutte queste forme sono equivalenti
application:
  apiKey: value      # Camel Case
  api-key: value     # Kebab Case (raccomandato)
  api_key: value     # Underscore
  API_KEY: value     # Uppercase (per variabili d'ambiente)

# application-prod.yml con pratiche raccomandate
spring:
  datasource:
    url: ${DATABASE_URL}
    username: ${DATABASE_USERNAME}
    password: ${DATABASE_PASSWORD}
    hikari:
      maximum-pool-size: ${DB_POOL_SIZE:10}
      leak-detection-threshold: 60000

  jpa:
    open-in-view: false
    properties:
      hibernate:
        jdbc:
          batch_size: 50
        order_inserts: true
        order_updates: true

server:
  shutdown: graceful
  tomcat:
    accept-count: 100
    max-connections: 10000
    threads:
      max: 200
      min-spare: 10

management:
  server:
    port: 8081
  endpoints:
    web:
      exposure:
        include: health,info,prometheus
  endpoint:
    health:
      show-details: when_authorized
      probes:
        enabled: true

logging:
  pattern:
    console: "%d{ISO8601} [%thread] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n"
  level:
    root: INFO
    org.springframework.web: WARN
    org.hibernate.SQL: WARN