Good books on designing applications making use of the Spring Framework?

Question

Like the title suggests, I am looking for a good read on Java application design that leverages Spring. When I read different examples on the internet or the Spring official documentation, I had this feeling that every author out there presumes that you are good with patterns. Buzz words like DAO, Singleton and etc are used a lot. As an intermediate java programmer, I do understand patterns well, but I feel overwhelmed by these examples.

I am looking forward to buying/reading something that starts out at the vary basic level, discusses about different best practices (questions like.. how things are done typically?, why do you want to keep your domain objects out of Spring? and etc) considering me as a newbie application designer/architect.

Answer 1

Manning: Spring in Action, Second Edition

Answer 2

Professional Java Development with the Spring Framework.

I haven't read it, but with co-authors like Rod Johnson, Juergen Hoeller, etc, sounds promising. (These are the spring creators)

Answer 3

1. Spring Recipes
2. Spring in Action
3. Pro Spring
4. Professional Java Development with Spring Framework

Answer 4

Offical Spring Documentation is always the best source of information

http://www.springsource.org/documentation