* "context:component-scan" explictly ignores directories that accidentally match a specified custom resource pattern
* fixed "context:load-time-weaver" to not break post-processor detection in case of Spring jars deployed as shared libs
* added "context:property-override" configuration element, as a sibling to "context:property-placeholder"

Package org.springframework.core
* introduced Named(Inheritable)ThreadLocal, used throughout the framework for self-descriptive thread-bound context 
* added "getParameterName()" method to MethodParameter, activated through a ParameterNameDiscoverer
* factored out GenericTypeResolver from BridgeMethodResolver and GenericCollectionTypeResolver
* factored out DecoratingClassLoader base class from OverridingClassLoader and ShadowingClassLoader
* added "isReadable()" method to Resource interface, giving a readability hint upfront (supported by FileSystemResource)
* fixed ClassMetadataReadingVisitor (as used by "context:component-scan") to correctly ignore *usage* of inner classes

Package org.springframework.dao
* PersistenceExceptionTranslationPostProcessor extends ProxyConfig and applies its settings to newly created proxies

Package org.springframework.ejb
* Local/SimpleRemoteSlsbInvokerInterceptor use EJB(Local)Home for EJB 2.x detection, for WebSphere compatibility
* SimpleRemoteSlsbInvokerInterceptor properly detects CORBA connect failures on the IBM JVM (for WebSphere EJB access)

Package org.springframework.instrument
* added public "isInstrumentationAvailable()" method to InstrumentationLoadTimeWeaver, avoiding direct access to agent
* fixed ShadowingClassLoader to not attempt defining a package in case of a class in the default package

Package org.springframework.jca
* ResourceAdapterApplicationContext registers BootstrapContext as resolvable dependency type (for @Autowired)
* ResourceAdapterApplicationContext registers WorkManager as lazily resolvable dependency type (for @Autowired)
* added "workManagerName" property to WorkManagerTaskExecutor, for J2EE env lookups in JNDI (e.g. a Geronimo gbean-ref)
* introduced JBossWorkManagerTaskExecutor as adapter for the JBoss JCA WorkManager (analogous to CommonJ)
* introduced GlassFishWorkManagerTaskExecutor as adapter for the GlassFish JCA WorkManager (analogous to CommonJ)

Package org.springframework.jdbc
* DriverManagerDataSource's "driverClassName" throws IllegalStateException instead of CannotGetJdbcConnectionException
* added "defaultTransactionIsolationName" property to LazyConnectionDataSourceProxy
* SQLStateSQLExceptionTranslator translates "01*" data truncation codes into DataIntegrityViolationException
* SQLStateSQLExceptionTranslator translates "61*" deadlock codes into ConcurrencyFailureException
* SQLErrorCodesSQLExceptionTranslator falls back to SQL state translation for IBM DB2 and MS SQL by default
* added further default "sql-error-codes.xml" mappings for MS SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle
* DatabaseStartupValidator lets startup continue instead of 'busy' waiting in case of thread interruption
* JdbcTemplate falls back to type VARCHAR for a null value in case of an unknown SQL type specified against IBM DB2
* JdbcTemplate uses "PreparedStatement.setString" in case of LONGVARCHAR and CLOB (if given a String value)
* fixed CallMetaDataContext to skip SqlParameter objects without name (avoiding NPE)
* merged AbstractBeanPropertyRowMapper into concrete BeanPropertyRowMapper class
* removed BeanPropertyRowMapper's "newInstance" method to avoid confusion with ParameterizedBeanPropertyRowMapper
* revised BeanPropertyRowMapper to use JavaBean property introspection instead of expecting field/setter name matches
* factored out "initBeanWrapper"/"getColumnValue" template methods in BeanPropertyRowMapper, allowing for customization
* BeanPropertyRowMapper shares ResultSet value access logic with SingleColumnRowMapper
* BeanPropertyRowMapper and SingleColumnRowMapper perform Oracle-specific "getObject" checks for unknown specified types
* added ParameterizedSingleColumnRowMapper with a convenient "newInstance" method to specify the required type only once
* BeanPropertySqlParameterSource derives a default SQL type from the corresponding property type (for typed null values)

Package org.springframework.jms
* improved SimpleMessageConverter's exception message for an unsupported message payload
* DefaultMessageListenerContainer logs listener setup failures at INFO instead of ERROR level
* DefaultMessageListenerContainer allows for specifying a callback on "stop", for a notification after actual stopping
* DefaultMessageListenerContainer lets shutdown continue instead of 'busy' waiting in case of thread interruption
* fixed DefaultMessageListenerContainer to correctly process "sessionTransacted=true" in case of locally exposed Session
* SimpleMessageListenerContainer exposes listener Session as thread-bound resource for JmsTemplate calls (like DMLC)
* deprecated ServerSessionMessageListenerContainer in favor of DefaultMessageListenerContainer/JmsMessageEndpointManager
* DefaultJmsActivationSpecFactory is compatible with WebSphere MQ 6.0.2.1 as well now

Package org.springframework.jmx
* factored out "doUnregister(objectName)" and "onRegister(objectName,mbean)" methods in MBeanRegistrationSupport
* MBeanExporter actually sets "exposeManagedResourceClassLoader" to "true" by default (matching the 2.5 javadoc now)
* MBeanExporter explicitly removes all of its registered NotificationListeners from the target MBeanServer on shutdown
* introduced NotificationListenerRegistrar for registering a listener with any MBean on any MBeanServer(Connection)

Package org.springframework.mail
* added "text/csv" to ConfigurableMimeFileTypeMap's and thus MimeMessageHelper's default MIME mappings

Package org.springframework.mock
* added "getServletContext()" method to MockHttpServletRequest (not available in the HttpServletRequest interface)

Package org.springframework.orm
* introduced "postProcessMappings" template method in Hibernate LocalSessionFactoryBean
* fixed Hibernate AnnotationSessionFactoryBean to allow for mixed mapping sources (despite 2.5.1's "buildMappings" call)
* HibernateTemplate exposes the "org.hibernate.event.EventSource" and "org.hibernate.classic.Session" interfaces as well
* introduced "EntityManagerFactoryUtils.closeEntityManager" method that protects against exceptions thrown from close
* Hibernate/Jpa/JdoTransactionManager explicitly rollback an active transaction before closing when begin failed
* fixed TopLinkTransactionManager to correctly expose the underlying JDBC Connection in read-write transaction scenarios
* JDO/JPA factories check autodetected proxy interfaces for visibility in the ClassLoader (for WebSphere compatibility)
* added "entityManagerFactoryInterface" property to AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean, as alternative to autodetection
* added "getEntityManagerFactoryInterface()" to JpaVendorAdapter (for WebSphere compatibility of OpenJpaVendorAdapter)
* added "getPersistenceProviderRootPackage()" to JpaVendorAdapter, for excluding provider classes from class overriding
* introduced EclipseLinkJpaVendorAdapter and EclipseLinkJpaDialect, supporting EclipseLink 1.0 M4 or higher

Package org.springframework.remoting
* factored out RemotingSupport base class from RemoteAccessor and RemoteExporter
* (Jndi)RmiClientInterceptor properly detects CORBA connect failures on the IBM JVM
* HessianClientInterceptor and BurlapClientInterceptor expose the bean ClassLoader as thread context CL (if necessary)
* added overloaded "executeRequest" method with original MethodInvocation argument to HttpInvokerClientInterceptor
* added "hostname" bean property to SimpleHttpServerFactoryBean, for a specific network address to bind to

Package org.springframework.scripting
* introduced "ScriptFactory.requiresScriptedObjectRefresh(ScriptSource)" for object refresh even after a type check call
* GroovyScriptFactory and JRubyScriptFactory refresh scripted object instances even after an intermediate type check
* introduced "ScriptSource.suggestedClassName()" for dynamic Groovy scripts that do not define a class themselves
* GroovyScriptFactory uses resource filename (for files) or bean name (for inline scripts) as suggested class name
* added "depends-on" attribute to "lang:bsh/groovy/jruby" configuration element

Package org.springframework.test
* TestContextManager ignores default TestExecutionListeners that cannot be instantiated (e.g. due to spring-tx missing)
* AbstractJUnit38SpringContextTests runs "afterTestMethod" callbacks even when "beforeTestMethod" or "setUp" failed
* AbstractTestNGSpringContextTests executes Spring default callbacks in any case (marked with "alwaysRun = true")
* added configurable "sqlScriptEncoding" property to AbstractTransactionalXxxSpringContextTests (for reading scripts)

Package org.springframework.util
* revised ConcurrencyThrottleSupport's interruption handling to throw an IllegalStateException instead of 'busy' waiting
* deprecated ResponseTimeMonitor and PerformanceMonitorListener classes in favor of custom classes for specific needs

Package org.springframework.validation
* DataBinder's "initDirectFieldAccess()" sets the "extractOldValueForEditor" flag by default, analogous to bean access

Package org.springframework.web
* ServletRequestAttributes keeps hold onto the original session if a "request.getSession" call suddenly returns null
* added "setConfigLocation" method to ConfigurableWeb/PortletApplicationContext, accepting an init-param style value
* added "initServletContext(ServletContext)" template method to WebApplicationObjectSupport
* optimized ServletContextResource's and PortletContextResource's "exists()" check to avoid unnecessary stream opening
* Commons(Portlet)MultipartResolver catches and logs any exception thrown from file item cleanup (not propagating it)
* introduced NativeWebRequest and MultipartRequest interfaces for even finer-grained generic request access options
* introduced FacesRequestAttributes adapter, with attributes access falling back to current JSF FacesContext by default
* added "dispatchOptionsRequest/TraceRequest" properties to FrameworkServlet, for dispatching all HTTP request methods
* deprecated PathMap attribute and CommonsPathMapHandlerMapping class in favor annotation-based request mapping
* deprecated ThrowawayController and ThrowawayControllerHandlerAdapter in favor annotation-based controllers
* @RequestMapping's "method" attribute supported at type level as well, expressing restriction for entire handler
* @RequestMapping's "params" attribute supported at type level for Servlets, expressing precondition for entire handler
* @RequestMapping's "params" attribute supported at type level for Portlets, mapping mode+params onto specific handler
* @RequestMapping annotation supports "!myParam" expressions for non-presence of a specific parameter as well
* introduced WebArgumentResolver interface and "customArgumentResolver(s)" property on AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter
* factored out common HandlerMethodResolver/Invoker classes from Servlet/Portlet AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter
* AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter does not restrict supported HTTP methods by default (allowing for PUT, DELETE as well)
* AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter narrows through method name resolution even for a set of equal non-empty mappings
* AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter resolves the target type for a generically typed @RequestParam/@ModelAttribute argument
* AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter properly allows for resolving a Principal argument to null (in case of none defined)
* AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter resolves InputStream/OutputStream and Reader/Writer subclasses as well
* added "synchronizeOnSession" property to AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter, analogous to AbstractController
* fixed AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter to avoid NPE in case of plain model attribute returned from handler method
* Servlet AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter sends HTTP 404 instead of throwing IllegalState if no handler method found
* Portlet AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter throws UnavailableException instead of IllegalState if no handler method found
* added "prepareResponse"/"generatesDownloadContent" methods to AbstractView, for HTTPS cache header workaround for IE
* AbstractPdfView and Abstract(J)ExcelView participate in AbstractView's HTTPS cache header workaround for IE
* AbstractJasperReportsView does not perform a hard response reset, in favor of AbstractView's HTTPS cache workaround
* AbstractTemplateView catches "HttpServletResponse.getContentType()" exceptions (for JBoss Portal compatibility)
* InternalResourceView only exposes forward attributes when running on Servlet <2.5 (for GlassFish compatibility)
* InternalResourceView detects circular dispatching to the same view even in case of pattern matches for same handler
* InternalResourceView prevents dispatch to same handler path only if the "preventDispatchLoop" flag is set to "true"
* InternalResourceViewResolver sets "preventDispatchLoop" to "true" for conventional name-based View instances only
* JstlView exposes a JSTL-aware MessageSource even for a custom MessageSource passed in through the constructor
* re-added AbstractDataBoundFormElementTag's COMMAND_NAME_VARIABLE_NAME in deprecated form (Spring 2.0.x compatibility)
* made FormTag's MODEL_ATTRIBUTE_VARIABLE_NAME public (as replacement of COMMAND_NAME_VARIABLE_NAME)
* JSP Checkbox(es)Tag and RadioButton(s)Tag render label as HTML label element after input element (for HTML compliance)
* JSP CheckboxesTag and RadioButtonsTag compare raw item / raw Map key for selection check as well
* JSP SelectTag and OptionsTag compare raw Map key for selection check as well