Spring Boot - Introduction

Spring Boot is an open source Java-based framework used to create a micro Service. It is  developed by Pivotal Team and is used to build stand-alone and production ready spring applications. This chapter will give you an introduction to Spring Boot and familiarizes you with its basic concepts.
Micro Service is an architecture that allows the developers to develop and deploy services independently. Each service running has its own process and this achieves the lightweight model to support business applications.
Micro services offers the following advantages to its developers −
Easy deployment
Simple scalability
Compatible with Containers
Minimum configuration
Lesser production time
Spring Boot provides a good platform for Java developers to develop a stand-alone and production-grade spring application that you can just run. You can get started with minimum configurations without the need for an entire Spring configuration setup.
Spring Boot offers the following advantages to its developers −
Easy to understand and develop spring applications
Increases productivity
Reduces the development time
Spring Boot is designed with the following goals −
To avoid complex XML configuration in Spring
To develop a production ready Spring applications in an easier way
To reduce the development time and run the application independently
Offer an easier way of getting started with the application
You can choose Spring Boot because of the features and benefits it offers as given here −
It provides a flexible way to configure Java Beans, XML configurations, and Database Transactions.
It provides a flexible way to configure Java Beans, XML configurations, and Database Transactions.
It provides a powerful batch processing and manages REST endpoints.
It provides a powerful batch processing and manages REST endpoints.
In Spring Boot, everything is auto configured; no manual configurations are needed.
In Spring Boot, everything is auto configured; no manual configurations are needed.
It offers annotation-based spring application
It offers annotation-based spring application
Eases dependency management
Eases dependency management
It includes Embedded Servlet Container
It includes Embedded Servlet Container
Spring Boot automatically configures your application based on the dependencies you have added to the project by using @EnableAutoConfiguration annotation. For example, if MySQL database is on your classpath, but you have not configured any database connection, then Spring Boot auto-configures an in-memory database.
The entry point of the spring boot application is the class contains @SpringBootApplication annotation and the main method.
Spring Boot automatically scans all the components included in the project by using @ComponentScan annotation.
Handling dependency management is a difficult task for big projects. Spring Boot resolves this problem by providing a set of dependencies for developers convenience.
For example, if you want to use Spring and JPA for database access, it is sufficient if you include spring-boot-starter-data-jpa dependency in your project.
Note that all Spring Boot starters follow the same naming pattern spring-boot-starter- *, where * indicates that it is a type of the application.
Look at the following Spring Boot starters explained below for a better understanding −
Spring Boot Starter Actuator dependency is used to monitor and manage your application. Its code is shown below −
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
</dependency>

Spring Boot Starter Security dependency is used for Spring Security. Its code is shown below −
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
</dependency>

Spring Boot Starter web dependency is used to write a Rest Endpoints. Its code is shown below −
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>

Spring Boot Starter Thyme Leaf dependency is used to create a web application. Its code is shown below −
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId>
</dependency>

Spring Boot Starter Test dependency is used for writing Test cases. Its code is shown below −
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
</dependency>

Spring Boot Auto Configuration automatically configures your Spring application based on the JAR dependencies you added in the project. For example, if MySQL database is on your class path, but you have not configured any database connection, then Spring Boot auto configures an in-memory database.
For this purpose, you need to add @EnableAutoConfiguration annotation or @SpringBootApplication annotation to your main class file. Then, your Spring Boot application will be automatically configured.
Observe the following code for a better understanding −
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.EnableAutoConfiguration;

@EnableAutoConfiguration
public class DemoApplication {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args);
   }
}
The entry point of the Spring Boot Application is the class contains @SpringBootApplication annotation. This class should have the main method to run the Spring Boot application. @SpringBootApplication annotation includes Auto- Configuration, Component Scan, and Spring Boot Configuration.
If you added @SpringBootApplication annotation to the class, you do not need to add the @EnableAutoConfiguration, @ComponentScan and @SpringBootConfiguration annotation. The @SpringBootApplication annotation includes all other annotations.
Observe the following code for a better understanding −
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication
public class DemoApplication {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args);
   }
}
Spring Boot application scans all the beans and package declarations when the application initializes. You need to add the @ComponentScan annotation for your class file to scan your components added in your project.
Observe the following code for a better understanding −
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;

@ComponentScan
public class DemoApplication {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args);
   }
}

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