Spring Beans constructed multiple times? - spring

Question

I am teaching myself how to use REST Assured and Spring right now. I am running into a few problems with the Spring Beans. Below is the System.println output from the REST Assured gets every time a bean is created. As of now, it should actually only be created once per use of the beans (I would imagine or at least that's what I want).
Top of Cucumber Steps
private BasicApi guideBox;
private ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(BaseApiConfig.class);
It is important to note here that the Application Context is used in each scenario to give guideBox what it needs for each scenario.
The output below is currently generated for each cucumber scenario indicating that the 3 beans I am currently using are created and initialized before each scenario is run. This output occurs three times meaning the beans are created three times; once before each of the three scenarios. As you can see from the first result giving an error for too many API requests, this is all happening too fast and too often. Is there a way to stop bean creation until that specific bean is needed, or is every bean going to be created every time? Is there a way to create all the beans just one time instead of before every scenario?
Output During Each Scenario
{"error":"You are sending API requests too quickly. You are limited to 1 API request per second. Please refer to the API docs for more information."}
{"results":[{"id":2098,"title":"Arrested Development","alternate_titles":[],"container_show":0,"first_aired":"2003-11-02","imdb_id":"tt0367279","tvdb":72173,"themoviedb":4589,"freebase":"\/m\/02hct1","wikipedia_id":496020,"tvrage":{"tvrage_id":2649,"link":"http:\/\/www.tvrage.com\/shows\/id-2649"},"artwork_208x117":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/091414\/thumbnails_small\/2098-4213483650-208x117-show-thumbnail.jpg","artwork_304x171":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/091414\/thumbnails_medium\/2098-6882581105-304x171-show-thumbnail.jpg","artwork_448x252":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/091414\/thumbnails_large\/2098-7307781619-448x252-show-thumbnail.jpg","artwork_608x342":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/091414\/thumbnails_xlarge\/2098-677562375-608x342-show-thumbnail.jpg"}],"total_results":1}
{"results":[{"id":1,"region":"US","name":"United States","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/us.png"},{"id":12,"region":"AI","name":"Anguilla","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ai.png"},{"id":11,"region":"AG","name":"Antigua and Barbuda","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ag.png"},{"id":16,"region":"AR","name":"Argentina","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ar.png"},{"id":14,"region":"AM","name":"Armenia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/am.png"},{"id":3,"region":"AU","name":"Australia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/au.png"},{"id":17,"region":"AT","name":"Austria","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/at.png"},{"id":18,"region":"AZ","name":"Azerbaijan","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/az.png"},{"id":28,"region":"BS","name":"Bahamas","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bs.png"},{"id":23,"region":"BH","name":"Bahrain","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bh.png"},{"id":31,"region":"BY","name":"Belarus","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/by.png"},{"id":20,"region":"BE","name":"Belgium","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/be.png"},{"id":32,"region":"BZ","name":"Belize","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bz.png"},{"id":25,"region":"BM","name":"Bermuda","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bm.png"},{"id":27,"region":"BO","name":"Bolivia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bo.png"},{"id":30,"region":"BW","name":"Botswana","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bw.png"},{"id":8,"region":"BR","name":"Brazil","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/br.png"},{"id":108,"region":"VG","name":"British Virgin Islands","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/vg.png"},{"id":26,"region":"BN","name":"Brunei","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bn.png"},{"id":22,"region":"BG","name":"Bulgaria","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/bg.png"},{"id":75,"region":"KH","name":"Cambodia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/kh.png"},{"id":4,"region":"CA","name":"Canada","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ca.png"},{"id":39,"region":"CV","name":"Cape Verde","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/cv.png"},{"id":79,"region":"KY","name":"Cayman Islands","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ky.png"},{"id":35,"region":"CL","name":"Chile","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/cl.png"},{"id":37,"region":"CO","name":"Colombia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/co.png"},{"id":38,"region":"CR","name":"Costa Rica","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/cr.png"},{"id":40,"region":"CY","name":"Cyprus","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/cy.png"},{"id":41,"region":"CZ","name":"Czech Republic","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/cz.png"},{"id":42,"region":"DK","name":"Denmark","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/dk.png"},{"id":43,"region":"DM","name":"Dominica","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/dm.png"},{"id":44,"region":"DO","name":"Dominican Republic","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/do.png"},{"id":46,"region":"EC","name":"Ecuador","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ec.png"},{"id":48,"region":"EG","name":"Egypt","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/eg.png"},{"id":114,"region":"SV","name":"El Salvador","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/sv.png"},{"id":47,"region":"EE","name":"Estonia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ee.png"},{"id":52,"region":"FM","name":"Federated States Of Micronesia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/fm.png"},{"id":51,"region":"FJ","name":"Fiji","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/fj.png"},{"id":50,"region":"FI","name":"Finland","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/fi.png"},{"id":9,"region":"FR","name":"France","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/fr.png"},{"id":55,"region":"GM","name":"Gambia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gm.png"},{"id":7,"region":"DE","name":"Germany","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/de.png"},{"id":54,"region":"GH","name":"Ghana","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gh.png"},{"id":56,"region":"GR","name":"Greece","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gr.png"},{"id":53,"region":"GD","name":"Grenada","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gd.png"},{"id":57,"region":"GT","name":"Guatemala","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gt.png"},{"id":58,"region":"GW","name":"Guinea-Bissau","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gw.png"},{"id":61,"region":"HN","name":"Honduras","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/hn.png"},{"id":60,"region":"HK","name":"Hong Kong","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/hk.png"},{"id":63,"region":"HU","name":"Hungary","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/hu.png"},{"id":67,"region":"IN","name":"India","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/in.png"},{"id":64,"region":"ID","name":"Indonesia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/id.png"},{"id":65,"region":"IE","name":"Ireland","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ie.png"},{"id":66,"region":"IL","name":"Israel","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/il.png"},{"id":69,"region":"IT","name":"Italy","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/it.png"},{"id":72,"region":"JP","name":"Japan","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/jp.png"},{"id":71,"region":"JO","name":"Jordan","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/jo.png"},{"id":81,"region":"LA","name":"Lao People\u2019s Democratic Republic","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/la.png"},{"id":88,"region":"LV","name":"Latvia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/lv.png"},{"id":82,"region":"LB","name":"Lebanon","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/lb.png"},{"id":86,"region":"LT","name":"Lithuania","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/lt.png"},{"id":87,"region":"LU","name":"Luxembourg","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/lu.png"},{"id":94,"region":"MO","name":"Macau","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/mo.png"},{"id":140,"region":"MY","name":"Malaysia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/my.png"},{"id":97,"region":"MT","name":"Malta","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/mt.png"},{"id":98,"region":"MU","name":"Mauritius","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/mu.png"},{"id":5,"region":"MX","name":"Mexico","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/mx.png"},{"id":93,"region":"MN","name":"Mongolia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/mn.png"},{"id":141,"region":"MZ","name":"Mozambique","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/mz.png"},{"id":142,"region":"NA","name":"Namibia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/na.png"},{"id":146,"region":"NL","name":"Netherlands","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/nl.png"},{"id":6,"region":"NZ","name":"New Zealand","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/nz.png"},{"id":145,"region":"NI","name":"Nicaragua","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ni.png"},{"id":143,"region":"NE","name":"Niger","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ne.png"},{"id":147,"region":"NO","name":"Norway","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/no.png"},{"id":149,"region":"OM","name":"Oman","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/om.png"},{"id":150,"region":"PA","name":"Panama","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/pa.png"},{"id":126,"region":"PY","name":"Paraguay","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/py.png"},{"id":151,"region":"PE","name":"Peru","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/pe.png"},{"id":153,"region":"PH","name":"Philippines","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ph.png"},{"id":155,"region":"PL","name":"Poland","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/pl.png"},{"id":125,"region":"PT","name":"Portugal","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/pt.png"},{"id":127,"region":"QA","name":"Qatar","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/qa.png"},{"id":89,"region":"MD","name":"Republic Of Moldova","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/md.png"},{"id":128,"region":"RO","name":"Romania","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ro.png"},{"id":129,"region":"RU","name":"Russia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ru.png"},{"id":130,"region":"SA","name":"Saudi Arabia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/sa.png"},{"id":134,"region":"SG","name":"Singapore","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/sg.png"},{"id":136,"region":"SK","name":"Slovakia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/sk.png"},{"id":135,"region":"SI","name":"Slovenia","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/si.png"},{"id":111,"region":"ZA","name":"South Africa","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/za.png"},{"id":49,"region":"ES","name":"Spain","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/es.png"},{"id":84,"region":"LK","name":"Sri Lanka","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/lk.png"},{"id":76,"region":"KN","name":"St. Kitts and Nevis","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/kn.png"},{"id":115,"region":"SZ","name":"Swaziland","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/sz.png"},{"id":133,"region":"SE","name":"Sweden","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/se.png"},{"id":34,"region":"CH","name":"Switzerland","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ch.png"},{"id":124,"region":"TW","name":"Taiwan","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/tw.png"},{"id":119,"region":"TJ","name":"Tajikistan","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/tj.png"},{"id":118,"region":"TH","name":"Thailand","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/th.png"},{"id":123,"region":"TT","name":"Trinidad and Tobago","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/tt.png"},{"id":122,"region":"TR","name":"Turkey","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/tr.png"},{"id":120,"region":"TM","name":"Turkmenistan","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/tm.png"},{"id":104,"region":"UG","name":"Uganda","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ug.png"},{"id":103,"region":"UA","name":"Ukraine","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ua.png"},{"id":10,"region":"AE","name":"United Arab Emirates","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ae.png"},{"id":2,"region":"GB","name":"United Kingdom","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/gb.png"},{"id":107,"region":"VE","name":"Venezuela","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/ve.png"},{"id":109,"region":"VN","name":"Vietnam","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/vn.png"},{"id":112,"region":"ZW","name":"Zimbabwe","map_img":"http:\/\/static-api.guidebox.com\/misc\/flags_iso\/48\/zw.png"}]}
Java Config File
Just in case there is something wrong with how I am configuring my config file, here it is.
#Configuration
#PropertySources(
#PropertySource(value = {"classpath:/properties/guideBox.properties"}))
public class BaseApiConfig
{
#Bean
public GuideBoxProperties properties()
{
return new GuideBoxProperties();
}
#Bean
public BasicApi provideBasicApi()
{
return new BasicApi();
}
#Bean
public BasicApi provideHome() throws Exception
{
return new BasicApi(properties().getApiFull());
}
#Bean
public BasicApi provideArrestedDevleopmentSearch() throws Exception
{
return new BasicApi(properties().getArrestedDevelopmentSearch());
}
#Bean
public BasicApi provideAllRegions() throws Exception
{
return new BasicApi(properties().getAllRegions());
}
}
A Cucumber Scenario
#Given("^that the database contains \"([^\"]*)\"$")
public void that_the_database_contains(String title)
{
showTitle = title;
try
{
guideBox = (BasicApi) context.getBean("provideArrestedDevleopmentSearch");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
guideBox.basicHandle("Init Error: ", e);
}
}
#When("^the client requests a database search for Arrested Development$")
public void the_client_requests_a_database_search_for_Arrested_Development()
{
try {
guideBox.searchJson("results.title");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
guideBox.basicHandle("Json Search Error: ", e);
}
}
#Then("^the title should be visible in the search results$")
public void the_title_should_be_visible_in_the_search_results()
{
try
{
Assert.assertThat(guideBox.getJsonResults(), CoreMatchers.containsString(showTitle));
}
catch(Exception e)
{
guideBox.basicHandle("Assertion Error: ", e);
}
}
UPDATE 1
I managed to fix the problem in a general sense. I made the BasicApi parameterized constructor less busy, resulting in a bit more code in the step defs to manually control some requests. This got rid of the too many API request error.
That being said, although the program now works as expected, my question does still stand, as I think (or hope) that there is probably a better way to do this than using the ApplicationContext the way I am using it.