How does Spring Boot handle externalized configuration precedence?

Spring Boot resolves configuration based on a strict precedence order from highest to lowest priority sources.

Spring Boot loads configuration from multiple sources such as command-line arguments, environment variables, application.properties, YAML files, profile-specific configs, and default values. The highest priority is given to command-line arguments, followed by system environment variables, then application profile-specific files, and finally default packaged properties. This allows flexible overrides across environments without code changes.