Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class org.example.dao.EmployeeDao

This error is indicating that there is a problem with instantiating a bean in your application due to a missing class definition. Specifically, the class org.example.dao.EmployeeDao is not being initialized properly.

The NoClassDefFoundError indicates that the class was found during compilation, but is missing at runtime. This could be due to a missing dependency in your project or a problem with your classpath.

To troubleshoot this issue, you should check that the org.example.dao.EmployeeDao class is present in your project and that all of its dependencies are properly included. You may also want to check that there are no conflicting versions of the class or its dependencies.

Additionally, you may want to check if there are any issues with your application's configuration files, as this error can also occur if a bean is misconfigured.

Once you have identified and resolved the underlying issue, you should be able to successfully instantiate the bean and continue with your application.