How does the CompositeRetryPolicy work in Spring Retry?

CompositeRetryPolicy combines multiple RetryPolicy instances into one. It supports two composition modes: optimistic and pessimistic. This is useful when you need retry behavior that satisfies multiple independent conditions simultaneously.

Optimistic mode (default): A retry is allowed if any of the composed policies permit it. This is a logical OR across policies.

Pessimistic mode: A retry is allowed only if all of the composed policies permit it. This is a logical AND across policies.

SimpleRetryPolicy byCount = new SimpleRetryPolicy(5);

TimeoutRetryPolicy byTime = new TimeoutRetryPolicy();
byTime.setTimeout(10000); // max 10 seconds total

CompositeRetryPolicy composite = new CompositeRetryPolicy();
composite.setPolicies(new RetryPolicy[]{ byCount, byTime });
composite.setOptimistic(false); // pessimistic: both must agree

RetryTemplate template = new RetryTemplate();
template.setRetryPolicy(composite);

In this example (pessimistic), both the count limit (5 attempts) and the time limit (10 seconds) must permit the retry. The retry stops when either limit is reached first — whichever comes first wins. This is a clean way to add a time-bound safety net on top of a count-based policy for long-running retries.

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