Check whether this component is currently running. <p>In the case of a container, this will return {@code true} only if <i>all</i> components that apply are currently running. @return whether the component is currently running
Start this component. <p>Should not throw an exception if the component is already running. <p>In the case of a container, this will propagate the start signal to all components that apply.
Stop this component, typically in a synchronous fashion, such that the component is fully stopped upon return of this method. Consider implementing {@link SmartLifecycle} and its {@code stop(Runnable)} variant when asynchronous stop behavior is necessary. <p>Note that this stop notification is not guaranteed to come before destruction: On regular shutdown, {@code Lifecycle} beans will first receive a stop notification before the general destruction callbacks are being propagated; however, on hot refresh during a context's lifetime or on aborted refresh attempts, a given bean's destroy method will be called without any consideration of stop signals upfront. <p>Should not throw an exception if the component is not running (not started yet). <p>In the case of a container, this will propagate the stop signal to all components that apply.
A common interface defining methods for start/stop lifecycle control. The typical use case for this is to control asynchronous processing. <b>NOTE: This interface does not imply specific auto-startup semantics. Consider implementing {@link SmartLifecycle} for that purpose.</b>
<p>Can be implemented by both components (typically a Spring bean defined in a Spring context) and containers (typically a Spring {@link ApplicationContext} itself). Containers will propagate start/stop signals to all components that apply within each container, e.g. for a stop/restart scenario at runtime.
<p>Can be used for direct invocations or for management operations via JMX. In the latter case, the {@link org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter} will typically be defined with an {@link org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler}, restricting the visibility of activity-controlled components to the Lifecycle interface.
<p>Note that the present {@code Lifecycle} interface is only supported on <b>top-level singleton beans</b>. On any other component, the {@code Lifecycle} interface will remain undetected and hence ignored. Also, note that the extended {@link SmartLifecycle} interface provides sophisticated integration with the application context's startup and shutdown phases.