While Bean Factory is used for simple applications, the Application Context is spring's more advanced container. Like 'BeanFactory' it can be used to load bean definitions, wire beans together and dispense beans upon request. It also provide
1) a means for resolving text messages, including support for internationalization.
2) a generic way to load file resources.
3) events to beans that are registered as listeners.
Because of additional functionality, 'Application Context' is preferred over a BeanFactory