You can start a Spring project in several ways. Here’s how to set up a basic Spring application using Spring Boot, which simplifies the process of setting up Spring applications with minimal configuration.
Spring Initializr is a web-based tool provided by Spring that helps you bootstrap a new Spring project quickly. Here’s how you can use it:
pom.xml
(for Maven) or
build.gradle
(for Gradle) file to load all the necessary
dependencies.Alternatively, you can create a Spring project from scratch and manually configure it.
pom.xml
.spring-boot-starter-web
,
spring-boot-starter-data-jpa
).build.gradle
file.Here’s a minimal pom.xml
for a Spring Boot project:
dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
<dependency>
</dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
<dependency>
</dependencies> </
The Spring Framework follows a modular architecture that is designed to be highly flexible. At a high level, it includes the following main components:
Spring Boot projects typically follow a convention-over-configuration approach, and its structure is straightforward and easy to understand. Below is a typical folder structure for a Spring Boot application.
my-spring-boot-project/
│
├── src/
│ ├── main/
│ │ ├── java/
│ │ │ └── com/
│ │ │ └── example/
│ │ │ ├── controller/ # Contains the controllers (Spring MVC)
│ │ │ ├── model/ # Contains the POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects)
│ │ │ ├── service/ # Contains business logic
│ │ │ ├── repository/ # Contains database access logic
│ │ │ └── Application.java # Main entry point for Spring Boot application
│ │ ├── resources/
│ │ │ ├── application.properties # Application configuration
│ │ │ ├── static/ # Contains static assets like images, CSS, JS
│ │ │ └── templates/ # Contains Thymeleaf templates or JSPs (if using JSP)
│ │ └── webapp/
│ │ └── WEB-INF/ # Directory for web-specific resources
│ └── test/ # Test files go here (e.g., JUnit tests)
│ └── java/
│ └── com/
│ └── example/
│ └── controller/
│
└── pom.xml # Maven build file (for dependencies)
└── build.gradle # Gradle build file (if using Gradle)
src/main/java/
: Contains Java code for
the application. The core components are divided into appropriate
packages such as controller
, service
,
model
, and repository
.
controller/
: Handles HTTP requests and
serves as the controller in the MVC pattern.model/
: Contains the model classes,
which are often Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs) that represent data in
your application.service/
: Contains the service layer,
where business logic resides.repository/
: Contains classes
responsible for interacting with the database (using Spring Data JPA or
similar technologies).src/main/resources/
: This folder
contains configuration files, static resources, and templates.
application.properties
: Configuration
file to set up properties for your Spring application (e.g., database
connection settings, server port).static/
: Stores static files like CSS,
JavaScript, and image files that can be accessed directly via the
web.templates/
: If using a template engine
like Thymeleaf, JSP, or FreeMarker, templates for rendering views will
be stored here.src/test/
: This folder is dedicated to
unit tests and integration tests.pom.xml
or build.gradle
:
These files define your project’s dependencies, plugins, and build
configurations.To get started with Spring:
By following these guidelines, you will be able to create well-organized Spring applications and scale them as needed for more complex enterprise-level solutions. In the following chapters, we will dive deeper into the core concepts of Spring, including Dependency Injection, Spring MVC, and more.