Java – Spring RestTemplate post response

Here's an example:

@GET
@Path("retrieve/{uuid}")
public Response retrieveSomething(@PathParam("uuid") String uuid) {
    if(uuid == null || uuid.trim().length() == 0) {
        return Response.serverError().entity("UUID cannot be blank").build();
    }
    Entity entity = service.getById(uuid);
    if(entity == null) {
        return Response.status(Response.Status.NOT_FOUND).entity("Entity not found for UUID: " + uuid).build();
    }
    String json = //convert entity to json
    return Response.ok(json, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON).build();
}

Take a look at the Response class.

Note that you should always specify a content type, especially if you are passing multiple content types, but if every message will be represented as JSON, you can just annotate the method with @Produces("application/json")

From Spring Documentation:

The @Repository annotation is a marker for any class that fulfils the role or stereotype of a repository (also known as Data Access Object or DAO). Among the uses of this marker is the automatic translation of exceptions, as described in Exception Translation.

Spring provides further stereotype annotations: @Component, @Service, and @Controller. @Component is a generic stereotype for any Spring-managed component. @Repository, @Service, and @Controller are specializations of @Component for more specific use cases (in the persistence, service, and presentation layers, respectively). Therefore, you can annotate your component classes with @Component, but, by annotating them with @Repository, @Service, or @Controller instead, your classes are more properly suited for processing by tools or associating with aspects.

For example, these stereotype annotations make ideal targets for pointcuts. @Repository, @Service, and @Controller can also carry additional semantics in future releases of the Spring Framework. Thus, if you are choosing between using @Component or @Service for your service layer, @Service is clearly the better choice. Similarly, as stated earlier, @Repository is already supported as a marker for automatic exception translation in your persistence layer.