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Spring Boot Crash Course Overview

Mar 14, 2025

Spring Boot Crash Course by Dan Vega

Introduction

  • Host: Dan Vega, Spring Developer Advocate for VMware.
  • Purpose: To introduce Spring Boot and guide on building web applications.
  • Key Questions: What is Spring? Spring Boot? How to start with Spring?

Prerequisites

  • Java: Beginner to Intermediate level of experience.
  • Build Tools: Maven (focus on Maven for this course).
  • Software: Java 17, IDE or text editor (IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio Code, etc.).
  • API Testing Tools: Postman, curl, HTTPie.
  • Docker: Optional for database management.

Spring Framework Overview

  • A comprehensive framework for building various applications.
  • Supports web apps, microservices, serverless functions, event-driven architecture, CLI applications.
  • Key Components: Spring MVC for web apps, Spring WebFlux for reactive programming, Spring Cloud for cloud-native applications.

Spring Boot Overview

  • Builds on Spring Framework to simplify development.
  • Core Principles:
    • Starters: Simplifies dependency management.
    • Auto Configuration: Provides sensible defaults and configurations.
    • Production Ready: Includes tools like Spring Boot Actuator.

Course Structure

  • Application: Build a web app with REST API.
  • Content Calendar Project: Hands-on example to apply concepts.
  • Modules: Spring Core, Spring MVC, Data Access, Production Readiness.

Development Environment Setup

  • Use start.spring.io to bootstrap applications.
  • Configure dependencies using Maven.
  • Explore project structure and configuration files.

Key Concepts

Spring Core

  • Inversion of Control (IoC): Container to manage dependencies.
  • Application Context: Central interface for configuration.
  • Beans: Instances managed by the Spring container.

Spring MVC

  • Controllers: Handle requests and return responses.
  • CRUD Operations: Implement Create, Read, Update, Delete using RESTful principles.
  • Data Validation: Use Spring’s validation capabilities to ensure data integrity.
  • CORS: Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing for security.

Data Access

  • JDBC Template: Simplifies JDBC operations.
  • Spring Data: Provides a higher level of abstraction for data handling.
  • Repositories: Interface-driven approach to database operations.
  • Query Derivation: Automatically implement queries based on method names.

Production Readiness

  • Configuration Management: Use external configuration sources like properties and YAML files.
  • Profiles: Manage environment-specific configurations.
  • Spring Boot Actuator: Monitor and manage applications with production-ready features.

Deployment

  • Building Artifacts: Create executable JARs, Docker images, and native executables.
  • Deployment Platforms: Overview of hosting options like Heroku, Azure, Railway.
  • Railway Deployment: Example of deploying Spring Boot application on Railway.

Summary

  • Encourage applying learned concepts to personal projects.
  • Resources: Check the provided links for detailed documentation and further learning.

Additional Resources

  • Books, podcasts, and online resources for deeper understanding.
  • Follow Dan Vega on YouTube and other platforms for more content.

Note: This course is a crash course, focusing on getting started with Spring Boot and providing a high-level overview of its features and capabilities.

Full transcript