Getting Started with Spring Boot

Spring Boot has revolutionized Java backend development by simplifying configuration and providing production-ready features out of the box. In this guide, I'll walk you through creating your first Spring Boot application.

What is Spring Boot?

Spring Boot is an opinionated framework built on top of the Spring Framework. It eliminates much of the boilerplate configuration required in traditional Spring applications and allows developers to get started quickly.

Key Features

• Auto-configuration: Automatically configures your application based on dependencies
• Standalone: Creates standalone applications with embedded servers
• Production-ready: Includes health checks, metrics, and monitoring
• Opinionated defaults: Sensible defaults that can be easily overridden

Creating Your First Application

Let's create a simple REST API for managing tasks.

1. Project Setup

Use Spring Initializr to bootstrap your project with these dependencies:

• Spring Web
• Spring Data JPA
• H2 Database
• Lombok

2. Create the Entity

@Entity
@Data
@NoArgsConstructor
@AllArgsConstructor
public class Task {
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
    private Long id;
    
    private String title;
    private String description;
    private boolean completed;
}

3. Create the Repository

public interface TaskRepository extends JpaRepository<Task, Long> {
    List<Task> findByCompleted(boolean completed);
}

4. Create the Controller

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/tasks")
public class TaskController {
    
    @Autowired
    private TaskRepository taskRepository;
    
    @GetMapping
    public List<Task> getAllTasks() {
        return taskRepository.findAll();
    }
    
    @PostMapping
    public Task createTask(@RequestBody Task task) {
        return taskRepository.save(task);
    }
}

Best Practices

Here are some best practices I follow when working with Spring Boot:

1. Use DTOs: Separate your entities from API responses
2. Exception Handling: Implement global exception handlers
3. Validation: Use Bean Validation annotations
4. Testing: Write comprehensive unit and integration tests
5. Security: Always implement proper authentication and authorization

Conclusion

Spring Boot makes it incredibly easy to build production-ready applications. This is just the beginning - there's so much more to explore!

Happy coding! 🚀