#5 What is Spring Boot?

Summary

This video introduces Spring Boot, a powerful framework that simplifies the configuration and deployment of Java applications. The speaker explains the traditional challenges of setting up Spring applications, such as object creation and server configuration with Tomcat. Spring Boot addresses these issues by embedding a Tomcat server and providing a quick start with minimal configuration. The tutorial demonstrates creating a simple 'Hello World' application with Spring Boot, showcasing its ease of use and rapid deployment capabilities. The video also touches on the trade-offs between Spring Boot's convention-over-configuration approach and the need for customization.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Spring Boot is designed to simplify the bootstrapping and development of new Spring applications.
• 🔧 Spring Boot handles a lot of the configuration automatically, reducing the need for manual setup compared to traditional Spring Framework applications.
• 🚀 Spring Boot allows for quick project setup and can get a project running in a matter of minutes, which was a challenge with the Spring Framework.
• 🛠️ Spring Boot includes an embedded server like Tomcat, eliminating the need for external server installations and configurations.
• 📦 Spring Boot projects can be packaged as a JAR file, which can run standalone without the need for a WAR file and an external server.
• 🌱 Spring Boot promotes the use of convention over configuration, which can speed up development but may also include dependencies that are not needed for every project.
• 📝 The script mentions the use of 'start.spring.io' for generating new Spring Boot projects with specific configurations and dependencies.
• 🔄 Spring Boot is built on top of the Spring Framework, and it is not a separate project but an additional layer that simplifies the process of building applications.
• 🌐 The script demonstrates creating a simple 'Hello World' application using Spring Boot, showcasing the ease of creating and running a basic web service.
• 🛑 While Spring Boot is beneficial for quick setups, it may include unnecessary configurations and dependencies, which could be a drawback for those who prefer more control over their setups.
• 🔑 The choice between using Spring Boot and the Spring Framework depends on the developer's preference for ease of setup versus the need for more granular control over configurations.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of Spring Boot?

Spring Boot is designed to simplify the bootstrapping and development of new Spring applications, handling complex configurations and allowing for quick project setup and deployment.

How does Spring Boot differ from the Spring Framework?

Spring Boot is built on top of the Spring Framework, providing additional layers that simplify the process of building projects by handling configurations automatically and embedding a Tomcat server for web applications.

What is the significance of Spring Boot's embedded Tomcat server for web applications?

The embedded Tomcat server in Spring Boot allows developers to run their web applications without the need for an external server, which streamlines the deployment process and reduces the setup time.

Why might a developer choose to use Spring Framework over Spring Boot?

A developer might prefer the Spring Framework for more control over configurations and to avoid the automatic inclusion of dependencies that may not be needed for their specific project.

What is the role of 'start.spring.io' in creating a Spring Boot project?

'start.spring.io' is a website that provides an easy way to generate a Spring Boot project with the desired dependencies and configurations, speeding up the project creation process.

How does Spring Boot handle object creation in an application?

Spring Boot, like the Spring Framework, manages object creation through its dependency injection mechanism, allowing developers to specify which classes should have their objects created and managed.

What is the benefit of using Spring Boot for experimental projects or quick prototyping?

Spring Boot's simplified configuration and quick setup process make it ideal for experimental projects or quick prototyping, allowing developers to focus more on the application logic rather than setup and configuration.

What is the default packaging type for Spring Boot applications?

The default packaging type for Spring Boot applications is a JAR file, which includes an embedded server and allows for easier deployment and execution.

How does Spring Boot's convention over configuration approach affect the development process?

Spring Boot's convention over configuration approach provides developers with sensible defaults for many common tasks, reducing the need for explicit configuration and speeding up the development process.

What are some of the dependencies included in a Spring Boot project generated by 'start.spring.io'?

Some of the dependencies that might be included in a Spring Boot project are Spring Boot Starter Web, Jackson for JSON conversion, Micrometer for observability, and an embedded Tomcat server.

How can a developer test a simple Spring Boot application that returns 'Hello World'?

A developer can test a simple Spring Boot application by running the application and accessing the specified endpoint, such as 'localhost:8080', in a web browser or using a REST client like Postman.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Spring Boot and Its Advantages

The speaker, A Ready, welcomes viewers back and introduces the topic of Spring Boot, a framework designed to simplify the bootstrapping and development of new Spring applications. The video aims to receive 250 comments. The speaker explains that while the Spring framework is powerful for object creation and dependency management, it can be cumbersome for large projects due to its extensive configuration requirements. Spring Boot addresses this by reducing the need for configuration and allowing for quicker project setup. It is not a separate project but an additional layer on top of the Spring framework, making it easier to build applications by providing defaults and embedded servers like Tomcat. The speaker guides viewers on how to start a Spring Boot project using start.spring.io, emphasizing the ease and speed of getting a project up and running with minimal configuration.

05:00

🛠️ Setting Up a Spring Boot Project with Embedded Tomcat

This paragraph delves into the process of setting up a Spring Boot project with an embedded Tomcat server, eliminating the need for external server installations. The speaker demonstrates how to create a new Maven project using start.spring.io, selecting the appropriate Java version, packaging as a JAR file, and choosing necessary dependencies like Spring Web. The speaker also discusses the flexibility of Spring Boot, allowing developers to select only the components they need for their project. Once the project is generated and downloaded, the speaker shows how to import it into an IDE, such as IntelliJ Community Edition, and how the project comes with a pre-configured set of dependencies, including an embedded Tomcat server, which simplifies the deployment process. The speaker then creates a simple 'Hello World' REST controller to demonstrate the ease of creating and running a basic application in Spring Boot.

10:01

🚀 Running a Spring Boot Application and Its Trade-offs

The speaker concludes the video by running the 'Hello World' Spring Boot application, showcasing how quickly and easily a project can be executed with minimal setup. The application runs on an embedded Tomcat server on port 880, and the speaker tests it by accessing it through a web browser, successfully retrieving the 'Hello World' message. The speaker also discusses the trade-offs of using Spring Boot, such as the convention over configuration approach, which can sometimes include unnecessary components by default. However, the speaker expresses a preference for Spring Boot due to its ease of use and rapid development capabilities, while acknowledging that some developers may prefer the more granular control offered by the traditional Spring framework. The video ends with a reminder of Spring Boot's benefits in simplifying Java development and a teaser for the next video.

Keywords

💡Spring Boot

Spring Boot is a framework built on top of the Spring Framework to simplify the bootstrapping and development of new Spring applications. It provides a set of pre-configured templates and starters that reduce the amount of initial setup required to start a new project. In the video, the speaker discusses how Spring Boot addresses the configuration problems of traditional Spring Framework applications, allowing developers to get a project running in just a few minutes.

💡Spring Framework

The Spring Framework is a comprehensive programming and configuration model for modern Java-based enterprise applications. It provides a way to manage object creation and dependencies, which is referred to as Inversion of Control (IoC). In the video, the speaker explains that Spring Framework is powerful but can be complex to set up, which is why Spring Boot was introduced to streamline the process.

💡Configuration

Configuration in the context of the video refers to the setup and initial arrangements needed to get a Spring application running. This includes specifying dependencies, setting up a server like Tomcat, and defining how objects are created and managed. The speaker contrasts the traditional Spring Framework's configuration process with the simplified setup provided by Spring Boot.

💡Tomcat Server

Tomcat is an open-source Java Servlet Container developed by the Apache Software Foundation. It is used to serve Java-based web applications. In the video, the speaker mentions that traditional Spring web applications require an external Tomcat server to be installed and configured before the application can be run. However, Spring Boot simplifies this by including an embedded Tomcat server within the application.

💡Embedded Tomcat

Embedded Tomcat is a feature of Spring Boot that allows a Tomcat server to be included within the application itself, eliminating the need for a separate server installation. This is highlighted in the video as one of the ways Spring Boot simplifies the deployment process for Java web applications.

💡Maven Project

A Maven project is a project managed by Apache Maven, a build automation tool used primarily for Java projects. Maven handles the project's build process, dependencies, and documentation. In the video, the speaker uses Maven to create a new Spring Boot project through the start.spring.io website.

💡Dependencies

Dependencies in a Java project are libraries or modules that the project requires to function. The speaker discusses how Spring Boot manages dependencies, including the automatic inclusion of necessary libraries for a web application, such as Jackson for JSON conversion and Micrometer for observability.

💡@RestController

@RestController is an annotation in Spring Framework used to indicate that a class is a controller where every method returns a domain object directly (not a view). It is used to create RESTful web services. In the video, the speaker uses the @RestController annotation to create a simple 'Hello World' endpoint.

💡@RequestMapping

@RequestMapping is a Spring Framework annotation used to map HTTP requests to controller methods. It is part of the Spring MVC module and is used to define the request path for a controller method. In the video, the speaker uses @RequestMapping to map the root URL to a method that returns 'Hello World'.

💡Convention over Configuration

Convention over Configuration is a principle in software development where the software makes reasonable assumptions about the user's intent based on naming conventions rather than requiring the user to specify every detail through configuration files. Spring Boot follows this principle, as mentioned in the video, by providing sensible defaults and reducing the need for extensive configuration.

💡start.spring.io

start.spring.io is a website provided by the Spring team that allows developers to generate a new Spring Boot project with pre-configured settings and dependencies. The speaker uses this website to demonstrate how quickly a new Spring Boot project can be created with the necessary dependencies for a web application.

Highlights

Introduction to Spring Boot and its purpose in simplifying the configuration process of Spring Framework applications.

The Spring Framework's role in object creation and dependency management within Java applications.

The limitations of Spring Framework in handling large numbers of classes and the need for selective object creation.

The necessity of configuring the Spring Framework through XML or property files to specify which classes to instantiate.

The requirement of a server like Tomcat for running web applications built with Spring, and the associated setup challenges.

The contrast between the quick setup of modern languages like Python or JavaScript and the initial complexity of setting up Java applications.

The introduction of Spring Boot as a solution to streamline the project setup and reduce configuration time.

Spring Boot is not a separate framework but an additional layer on top of the Spring Framework, simplifying the development process.

The ability of Spring Boot to automatically configure embedded servers like Tomcat, eliminating the need for external server installations.

The demonstration of creating a Spring Boot project using start.spring.io, a website that simplifies the project setup process.

The ease of selecting project dependencies and configurations through the start.spring.io interface.

The option to choose between a WAR or JAR packaging in Spring Boot, with the latter including an embedded Tomcat server.

The explanation of how Spring Boot's embedded server functionality allows for quicker deployment without the need for external servers.

The process of generating a Spring Boot project with specific dependencies and configurations using start.spring.io.

The simplicity of creating a 'Hello World' application in Spring Boot and running it with minimal setup.

The demonstration of running a Spring Boot application and accessing it via a web browser, showcasing the ease of use.

The comparison between Spring Boot and Spring Framework in terms of ease of use, control, and default configurations.

The acknowledgment of potential issues with Spring Boot's convention over configuration approach and its impact on customization.

The final thoughts on the benefits of Spring Boot for rapid application development and its impact on Java's reputation for being slow.

Transcripts

welcome back aliens my name is a ready

and in this video we'll talk about

spring boot so before we talk about

spring boot the target for this video is

250 comments now till this point we have

talked about spring framework right and

we are excited to understand how this

framework works and whatever things it

promises how it deals with that so yes

spring framework is amazing right and

whatever application we are going to

build now is with the help of spring so

let's say you want to build an

application this can be anything in the

world even it can be a huge application

or it can be a application for hello

world typically what happens is when you

want to build the application of course

you have your Java code with you and

then to make it work spring says hey you

know doesn't matter how many classes you

have I will take care of the object

creation and you are quite happy because

now you don't have to worry about the

objects spring says I will take care of

it so let's say in your application you

have you have three classes and you say

hey Spring create object of this three

classes and spring is happy to do that

so let's say in your application now you

have 100 or thousand classes can spring

handle all the objects of course it can

but the question is do you want spring

to handle all the classes you know most

of the time we don't even want the

object of few classes let's say you have

lot of classes here and out of all these

classes you need objects of only few

classes how do you talk to your spring

framework by saying hey don't create

objects for everything I don't want all

those things I just want few spring says

okay tell me which one you want and

that's where when you talk to the

framework we have to do that in the

configuration file it can be XML file or

it can be a property file but you have

to talk to the framework that means just

because you're using a framework you

will not be able to run your code in the

first go you have to first do the

configuration next part let's say if you

are building a web application now if

you want to run your web application

basically you need a server in terms of

java uh we need something called a

tomcat server of course we have multiple

options let's say if you want if you're

building a web application in Spring you

need to have a tomcat server that means

in your machine even before you run your

code you have to make sure that you have

installed Tomcat you have configured

Tomcat then only you can run your

application so you'll be saying hey

what's wrong with that I mean of course

we can do configuration we can install

Tomcat see the problem is when you have

a long project it makes sense to spend

few hours or days doing the

configuration because the project will

go for a year but what if you are doing

some experiment what if you want to get

started in few minutes see most of the

languages nowadays they are doing that

if you talk about python or JavaScript

they have their Frameworks and if you

want to at least print hello world you

can do that in minutes now this is what

spring was lagging way back and Java was

lagging way back and that's where we got

something called a spring boot now

spring boot says all your problems of

configuration let me take care of it

what if you can get your project running

in few minutes and that's what spring

boot gives you it's not a new project is

there from a long time but it basically

solves your problem of building a

project in less time so does it means

that spring boot is different from

Spring framework not exactly see

underlying it's all spring framework

right on top of that you have one more

layer of spring boot so you can actually

build application directly using spring

framework or if you want to make it easy

you can use spring boot again that's an

optional stuff but this optional thing

is very very important and uh it will

make your work faster so basically we

can use a spring boot which is a open

unated framework which means it will

give you certain things the way it wants

and you can simply use it to run your

application let me show you how what I'm

talking about so let's say if I go to

the spring.io the official website and

instead of this website if I just say

start. spring.io it will take you to a

website now see when you talk about

building a project in different idees we

have an option of directly saying a new

project and you can create a spring

project in spring project basically you

create a mavin project again we'll see

that in in sometime or in the upcoming

videos but basically you have to create

a m project at the spring dependency a

lot of different steps right inell idea

ultimate version gives you a an option

of creating a spring boot project

directly but since we are not going to

go for the ultimate version we don't

want to pay for it we have a good

alternative what you can do is you can

go to Spring Riser which is this website

start. spring.io and you can mention

what kind of project you are building so

I'm building a MAV project this is a

build tool the language I'm going for is

Java and then the spring boot version so

this is update version so you can see we

have 3.2.5 we can even go for the rc1

but I just want to stick to the stable

one which is uh 3.2.5 and depend upon

when you're watching this you can just

use that particular version the group I

will say com. telescope and the project

name is let's say uh demo app and then

the packaging is I'm going for Java now

this this is where the beauty lies you

know if you talk about a spring

framework or any web application in Java

you can create a project and if you want

to deploy it on the cloud basically you

create a v file so v v stands forb web

archive and then you basically push your

W file in the Tomcat to run it multiple

steps right spring boot says don't worry

you can create a jar file but the

problem is jar file we cannot run jar

file on the Tom Cat then how it would

work what if you don't need external Tom

Cat what if the project itself has a

tomcat I mean that will be awesome right

so basically spring boot says if you

want to build a web project you will get

a embedded tom cat so I will select jar

and I'll show you what I'm I'm talking

about and then I can select my Java

version so in this machine I got Java 21

so I will go with that it is LTS version

so it's safe to use and dependency so

what are things we need so of course if

you remember when we talked about spring

framework I mentioned that there are

multiple projects inside spring and we

don't need all depending upon your use

case you will choose one so I will click

on ADD

dependencies so you can see there are

lot of options here to choose from and

you don't have to know everything uh use

whatever you need example here I want to

build a web application so I will simply

say uh spring web if you want to add

database connectivity you can also add

uh jpa but we don't need that at this

point uh if you want to get a longbox

support you can choose that if you want

to uh use graphql you can use that uh so

as I mentioned there are so many options

here but I just want to stick to one

which is bring web and click on generate

now before I click on generate I will

show you how this configuration looks

like so it will give you the entire

configuration we can see we got a

dependency which is spring boot stter

web here the Java version is 21 this is

my project name and this is the spring

boot version which we are using and

behind this it will use spring framework

I will show you the code so click on

download you can even click on the uh

generate here so you can see in the

downloads I got this project which is

demo app what I will do is I will just

unzip it so unzipping is done on the

other screen but uh I will just open

that project now in my ID now you can

use any ID here you can use Eclipse you

can use vs code you can use intellig

idea Community version version or theate

version so I'm using a community version

here just to show you the proof I will

click on not update I will click on

about and you can see this is a

community version and I will click on

open the project so this is the project

which I've downloaded click on open and

voila you got your project and the

beauty is if I expand the dependencies I

think it will take some time to download

okay download it too fast and you can

see it added so many dependencies here

uh the for the Jackson for Json

conversion uh we got uh micrometer for

observing we got Tomcat you can see we

got embed Tomcat so basically you don't

need to have the external Tom Cat here

and if you go down uh we got spring boot

but also we got spring framework you can

see we got spring code so all the things

which are spring required for spring

code or spring project we got it here

okay uh let me just drop it here and now

let me create a hello world so what I

will do is just to create Hello World

now if you have worked with s or any

other language before uh basically we we

do multiple steps right but let me show

you the code in Spring which will print

hello world I'm I'm not going to explain

everything in this video how spring web

works we have a separate section on that

but just to show you how to build

application I will get a class and I

will name this class as

hello I'll just simply say hello and

then I will just return I will create a

method here and this method is

responsible to print hello world on the

screen so I will say public string I

will simply say

greet and this will return hello world a

very simple method right nothing fancy

for Server a simple class is just that

if you want this to work you simply say

here rest controller and we have to map

it with again I'm not explaining it here

we have a detailed topic on this what is

request mapping what is rest controller

we'll talk about it at this point just

go for two annotations and say I will

say slash so basically whenever you

request for the homepage it will return

the hello world that's what I want or

maybe I can say hello world welcome to

telescope

okay cool and now let's run this how do

we run this so you go back to your

application or the main file and simply

say run behind the scene it will of

course compile the code it will run this

on a tomcat just have a look and when

you run for the first time it will print

this spring uh pattern here you can

change it if you want uh but we are

concerned about this or we want to focus

on this so Tomcat started on port number

880 nowhere externally I'm using Tomcat

okay a very simple stuff and I'm saying

run on 880 I got it how do I test it of

course you can use a rest client like

Postman or I will just open the browser

and here I will say Local Host colon 880

enter and if you can see we got the

answer we got response which is Hello

World welcome to the lco it's so simple

right and how much time it took me to

run this of course I was talking to the

camera and doing this so it will take it

took a lot of time but if you want to do

this you can do that in minutes so you

got your application up and running in

minutes that's not the case with spring

framework and you will see that once we

start with spring later so this is

spring boat behind the scene it is still

spring framework now the question is is

it better than spring of course right it

will help you but there are certain

issues with spring boot as well of

course not a big issue one of the issue

is by default it will do a lot of stuff

for you so it basically follows

convention over configuration because in

Spring we do a lot of configuration here

it says I will give you stuff you tell

me what you want I will give it to you

and most of the time it also gives you

certain things which you don't want

example if you expand this libraries

here there are so many things maybe I

will not even going to use this but

spring boot says take it okay so that's

one and next since it gives you a lot of

default stuff if you want to configure

then of course you have to do those

configuration by yourself that means if

you want more control it is better to

work with spring framework than spring

boot again debatable uh personally I

prefer spring boot if I want to work on

a project I'm happy to do the

configuration in Spring boot but yeah

people might prefer spring framework for

that reason it's still debatable but

spring boot is awesome so yeah that's

one of the issue and um yeah that's

about it I wanted to show you what is

spring Boot and people who cry about

Java being slow Java being

wos spring boot is here it will make

your work easy see you in the next video