What is Java Spring Boot?
Java Spring Boot is an open-source tool that makes easy to create stand-alone, production ready and robust web apps and microservices.
Before we continue, it is important to understand that Spring Boot is an extension built on top of the Spring. Spring is an open source framework based on java to create scalable enterprise-level applications.
Spring is not just a framework, but a collection of projects that help create Java applications with simplicity and flexibility. Spring ecosystem covers so many areas, such as Spring Data makes your app communicate with a database, Spring Security to protect your application, Spring AI helps integrate AI into your app, and other projects from cloud computing to big data.
Spring Framework was designed to help you focus on business logic and less on the infrastructure. It is widely used to build complex enterprise applications. However, the original Spring Framework required a lot of manual configuration, which could be complicated and time-consuming, especially for beginners. To simplify this, Spring Boot was created.
What is Spring Boot?
Spring Boot is an extension of the Spring framework that provides the ability to create stand-alone, production-ready, and robust Spring applications. Spring Boot reduces complexity, allowing you to quickly start developing an application without worrying about detailed configurations.
If you are already familiar with Java and want to create scalable and easy-to-maintain systems, Spring Boot might be exactly what you are looking for.
Spring Boot features
- Auto-Configuration: Spring Boot automatically configures your project based on the dependencies you add.
- Embedded Servers: Spring Boot comes with built-in HTTP servers like Tomcat and Jetty. This means you don’t need to configure an external server to run your web application.
- Spring Boot Starters: are pre-configured packages that include all the necessary dependencies for a specific purpose.
- Monitoring and Metrics: With Spring Boot Actuator you can monitor your application’s performance, endpoints and access metrics, system information.
Benefits of Spring Boot
- Easy to Learn and Use
- Reduces development time and get quality apps running quickly.
- Create applications that can just run immediately without the need of writing boilerplate code or configuring XML.
- Provides dev/test tools.
- Large Community and Support.
When to Use Spring Boot?
Use Spring Boot when you want:
- To develop REST APIs.
- To create scalable, production ready and enterprise level Applications.
- To create small, independent services with ease – Microservices.
List of some companies using Spring Boot
- Visa
- IBM
- Netflix
- MasterCard
- VMware, Inc.
- American Express
Java Spring Boot is a solution that combines simplicity and power, allowing you to develop Java based applications quickly without sacrificing flexibility. Whether for small or large services, complex enterprise systems, Spring Boot offers a solid foundation with ready-to-use features and an active community. If you want to build a modern, robust, and easy-to-maintain application, Spring Boot is definitely one of the best options available in the market.