Spring vs Spring MVC vs Spring Boot: What’s the Difference?

Spring serves as the foundational Java framework centered on inversion of control and dependency injection. Within this ecosystem, Spring MVC operates as a specific web module that implements the Model-View-Controller pattern for building applications. While often mistaken as rival frameworks, these components are actually complementary layers. Understanding how Spring, Spring MVC, and Spring Boot stack is essential for Java developers, as it demonstrates a professional grasp of how modern Java backends are structured and implemented.