In Spring Boot, an effective way to implement a cache-aside caching strategy is by using annotations like @Cacheable and @CacheEvict. These annotations allow developers to specify caching behavior for specific methods, making it easier to cache data as needed and evict it when necessary. Options 2, 3, and 4 are not typically associated with cache-aside caching.

In Spring Data JPA, you can create a custom query method by simply adding a method to the repository interface with a name following Spring's naming conventions. Spring Data JPA will automatically generate the query based on the method name, allowing you to perform database operations without writing explicit SQL queries. The other options either involve using native SQL queries or do not adhere to the Spring Data JPA conventions for creating custom queries.

In Spring Boot, you can handle exceptions thrown by a controller method using the @ExceptionHandler annotation. This annotation allows you to define methods that can handle specific exceptions or exception types. Using System.out.println() statements is not the recommended way to handle exceptions, and not handling exceptions is not a valid approach. Defining a separate error controller is a possible strategy but less commonly used.

The @Valid annotation in a method signature within a Controller enables request parameter validation for all parameters of the annotated method. This ensures that incoming request parameters are validated against defined constraints before the method is executed. Option 2 is not accurate as the @Valid annotation itself doesn't control whether the method is called or not. Option 3 is incorrect as @Valid is related to input validation, not response validation. Option 4 is also incorrect.

In a Spring Boot application, the @EnableOAuth2AuthorizationServer annotation is used to enable OAuth2 Authorization Server features. This annotation is crucial when you want your Spring Boot application to act as an OAuth2 Authorization Server. It allows you to configure and provide OAuth2 tokens to clients securely.

You can create a custom query method in a Spring Data JPA repository by using the @Query annotation with JPQL (Java Persistence Query Language). This allows you to define custom queries in your repository interface. Extending the CrudRepository interface provides basic CRUD operations but doesn't allow you to create custom queries directly. The @NamedQuery annotation is used for predefined queries in the entity class, and there's no @CustomQuery annotation in Spring Data JPA.

The @ConditionalOnProperty annotation is used in Auto Configuration to define a condition that must be met for a bean to be registered. It allows you to conditionally enable or disable the registration of a bean based on the presence and value of specified properties in the application.properties file.

Spring Data JPA is commonly used in Spring Boot applications to automate the database schema creation and update process. It provides a high-level, object-oriented interface for interacting with databases and generates SQL statements for schema changes automatically. While the other options may interact with databases, they are not specifically designed for automating schema changes in the same way Spring Data JPA does.

Implementing caching in a Spring Boot application brings several benefits, including reduced database load, faster response times, and improved scalability. However, increased application complexity is not a benefit; it's a potential drawback. Caching adds some complexity to the application logic and requires careful management to ensure data consistency and cache invalidation. The other options reflect actual benefits of caching.

In a YAML configuration file in Spring Boot, you can configure an array of values by using square brackets []. This format allows you to define a list of items. Each item in the list can be a separate value or a key-value pair. The other options are not the correct syntax for defining arrays in YAML configuration files.