In the corporate world, they say “Java is immortal!”. But Why? Java remains one of the major platforms for developing enterprise applications. Enterprise Applications are used by large companies to make money. Those applications have high-reliability requirements and an enormous codebase. According to a Java Developer Productivity Report, 62% of surveyed developers are using Spring Boot as their main framework technology. 

Now the questions that arise are, What is the Sprint Boot? Why it’s so much popular nowadays? What’s the best way to master Spring Boot? How to start? Where to start? What topics one should cover? etc, etc. Do you need to learn all the concepts from a book or you should go with some online tutorials or you should learn Spring Boot by doing some projects on it? So in this article, we are going to discuss all these things in detail. 

What’s Spring Boot?

Spring Boot is one of the most popular and used frameworks of Java Programming Language. It is a framework based on microservice and making a production-ready application using Spring Boot takes very little time. It is very easy to create stand-alone, production-grade Spring-based Applications that you can “just run“. So some of the main features of Spring boot are listed below.

• Create stand-alone Spring applications
• Embed Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow directly.
• Provide ‘starter’ dependencies to simplify the build configuration.
• Automatically configures Spring and 3rd party libraries whenever possible.
• Provide production-ready features like health checks, and externalized configuration.
• No code generation and no requirement for XML configuration.

A Roadmap to Learn

1. Basics of Java:

• If you’re not already familiar with Java, start by learning the fundamentals of the Java programming language. You can find numerous online Java tutorials and courses.

2. Introduction to Spring Framework:

• Understand the core concepts of the Spring Framework, including dependency injection, Inversion of Control (IoC), and aspect-oriented programming.

3. Spring Boot Fundamentals:

• Begin your Spring Boot journey by learning the basics. Key topics include:
  • Spring Boot architecture and advantages.
  • Setting up a Spring Boot project using Spring Initializer.
  • Building and running your first Spring Boot application.

4. Spring Boot Annotations:

• Learn common Spring Boot annotations used for defining beans, configuring application properties, and creating RESTful web services. Key annotations include @SpringBootApplication, @RestController, and @RequestMapping.

5. Data Access with Spring Boot:

• Explore how Spring Boot simplifies data access through Spring Data JPA, JDBC, or other data persistence technologies.
• Learn to configure data source properties and create repositories.

6. Building RESTful APIs:

• Master the creation of RESTful APIs using Spring Boot.
• Understand concepts like REST, HTTP methods, request/response handling, and error handling.

7. Spring Security:

• Learn how to secure your Spring Boot applications using Spring Security.
• Implement user authentication, authorization, and secure endpoints.

8. Spring Boot and Front-End Integration:

• Learn how to integrate Spring Boot with front-end technologies like Thymeleaf, Angular, or React.
• Explore templating engines and build dynamic web pages.

9. Testing and Debugging:

• Understand how to write unit tests and integration tests for Spring Boot applications.
• Learn debugging techniques and best practices.

10. Spring Boot Actuator: – Explore Spring Boot Actuator to monitor and manage your application. – Monitor application health, metrics, and endpoints.

11. Spring Boot Profiles: – Learn to configure and manage application profiles for different environments (e.g., development, production).

12. Spring Boot with Microservices: – If you’re interested in microservices architecture, delve into Spring Boot’s support for building microservices. – Learn about service discovery, load balancing, and communication between microservices.

13. Spring Boot Best Practices: – Understand best practices for structuring Spring Boot applications, managing dependencies, and following coding standards.

14. Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD): – Explore CI/CD pipelines to automate the build and deployment process of Spring Boot applications.

15. Real-World Projects: – Apply your knowledge by working on real-world projects or contributing to open-source Spring Boot projects. – Building practical applications will solidify your skills.

16. Community and Documentation: – Stay active in the Spring Boot community by participating in forums, conferences, and GitHub repositories. – Refer to official Spring Boot documentation and books for in-depth knowledge.

17. Keep Learning: – The tech world is constantly evolving. Stay updated with the latest Spring Boot features and practices by following blogs, and tutorials, and attending webinars.

By Asif Raza