Spring Boot

A Quick Introduction to Spring Boot

In this tech world, Spring Framework is considered as one of the best and effective platforms to carry out different tasks. For example, developing different enterprise and web applications. Till now, Spring has introduced a lot of useful programs and Spring Boot is one of them.

In this article, we will discuss some basics about spring boot, its examples, and more. Besides, here you will get to know some critical spring boot interview questions. Remember that, before obtaining knowledge about this useful program, you need to learn about XML and Java. If you’re planning to get a Spring certification, this information will be of so much help for you. So, let’s get started with the basics. After that, we will take a look into some significant differences between Spring vs spring boot.

Spring Framework Basics

What do You Mean by Spring Boot Program?

Spring Boot is a useful program that lets you bootstrap or develops different spring applications faster. Talking about, its official definition, it helps in creating a production-oriented and stand-alone application that you can just run.

Without spending much time, you can easily create Spring and spring applications. The program comes with some in-built configurations, which help in preventing boilerplate code. Generally, such codes are quite painful to manage.

It offers a lot of useful features. For example, auto-configuration, spring actuator, embedded server, spring initializer and more.

Why does the Developer Use Spring Boot?

Suppose, you are planning to develop a Spring MVC Hibernate MySQL program. However, for this, you need to learn about various dependencies. Besides, you may feel confused with the versions. Furthermore, you need to learn about transaction manager, data source, entity manager factory and more. But how about a program which can manage all such kinds of stuff?

This is where you can use a spring program. It takes care of all the settings and process, which is quite challenging to perform. On the other hand, you will find the applications fast. With its in-built configuration, it can help you in developing different spring applications quickly. If you go through the spring boot example, you can understand about the projects and how it works. However, for now, let’s know about some of the significant advantages of the program.

Understanding the Advantage of the Spring Framework

  • The program comes with some useful configurations which lets you create applications much faster.
  • It offers Jetty or Tomcat server. So, there is no need to employ a Jar.
  • The program dramatically reduces development code as it provides various boilerplate code.
  • Spring framework is very productivity and quite easy to use.
  • For easy and effective integration of Maven, it provides users with various starter projects. So, there is no need to worry about project mismatch.
  • Using the initializer, you can easily sample projects.

Spring is undoubtedly one of the best Java Frameworks out there. Here we enlist the best Spring Framework books that will help you become an expert.

Prerequisites of Spring Boot

If you want to create a spring application, here are some essentials you should consider. Before you start learning it, make sure that you know about the following things:

  • Core Java, including its interface, abstract class, method overriding, collection and OOP concepts. So that you can do java spring boot.
  • Besides, you need to learn about some J2ee technologies. For example, JDBC, JSP, and Servlet.
  • Moreover, learn about different design patterns such as Singleton, Strategy and Factory.
  • Make yourself familiar with Web Frameworks as well as persistence frameworks.
  • Knowledge of SQL and various databases. Besides, acquire some knowledge about HTML and Eclipse IDE. 

Make sure you know how to write and configure Servlet program. However, if you have an interest in technology and application development, then you will find it easy to learn all these kinds of stuff. You can also read out a few Spring book to learn the basics and get ahead. 

Major Features of Spring Boot

To understand more about the Spring Boot, it is important to understand the major features of Spring Boot. Once you will get familiar with these features, you won’t be able to resist yourself to start working with Spring Boot.

  • Web Development

The spring module is perfect for developing various web applications. In detail, you can easily create HTTP server through Tomcat, Undertow and Jetty. By using the spring-boot-starter-web module, you can run spring applications faster. 

  • Spring Applications

The program offers you an easy way to bootstrap different spring application. Besides, you can start it from the primary method. By using a static run () method, you can begin your application.

  • Events and Listeners

It employs different events to handle various tasks. In detail, with this, you can develop factories file to add listeners. To do this use Application Listener key. Remember to build the factory files in the folder, META-INF. For example, META-INF/Spring. Factories.

  • Better Admin Support

It comes with useful facilities which let you use admin features while developing your applications. With admin feature, you can manage the application remotely. For enable the admin features, you can use Spring .application. Admin. Enabled property.

  • Externalized Configuration

With Spring, you can externalize your application’s configurations. That means, now you can work with those particular applications in various environment. Most of the applications work on the YAML file for configuration externalization.

  • Properties Files

The program offers a vast set of properties for different applications. You can easily use that in the properties file. In general, such files are used to configure properties, for example- server-port = 8085, etc.

Also Read: Top 5 Java Frameworks

  • YAML Support

With Spring, now you can define the hierarchical configuration easily. It is quite useful than JSON. Most of the Spring Application support YAML.

  • Comes with Type-Safe Configuration

You will get Type-Safe configuration. Using this, you can now validate and manage the application’s configuration. Remember that the configuration of the application is an important task, and you need to type it very carefully.

  • Logging

For internal logging, the program uses standard logging. Besides, it manages the dependencies automatically. Don’t change the dependencies. Change if they need any customizations.

  • Better Spring Boot Security

Talking about spring boot security, spring applications are spring web-based applications. That means all the applications are secure by authentication on all HTTP points. You can find a vast set of HTTP endpoints which you can use to develop a highly secure Spring application.

A spring boot example to understand how Spring works:

1Z0-816 Practice Tests1. First, create a Java project using Maven with the name “Spring-Boot Hello World Standalone Example”.

2. Now, change the Pom.xml using. Check the below image:

3. Now create a file name, Country.java in package .org. arpit. java2blog.spring-boot

4. Create a file and name it “application. properties” in src/main/resources. For example: countryName= “put the country name”

5. Now, create a file, SpringBootHelloWorldStandaloneApplication.java” in .org. arpit.java2blog. Check the below image.

That’s it. Now you complete the Spring Boot Hello World Standalone Example.

System Requirement and Compatibility for Spring Boot

When you are ready to use the Spring Boot framework, you must know about the system requirements and compatibility of Spring Boot. Let’s discuss Spring 1.5.6 system compatibility and requirements.

  • Java Compatibility

The latest Spring is compatible with the Java version 1.6. However, always prefer to use the latest version for easy java spring boot programming.

  • Gradle or Maven

The program is compatible with Gradle 2.9 and above and Maven 3.2 and above.

  • Container

Servlet 3.0+ compatible container. For example, Jetty 8 and Tomcat 7 and above.

  • Spring Environment Framework

The Framework 4.3.10. or above.

However, if you are using Tomcat 7, then make sure that the Servlet version is 3.0, and the Jave version is 6.

On the other side, for Tomcat 8, you need to use Java version 7 and Servlet version 3.1.

Java blogs offer you a platform to learn more about Java, its frameworks, trends, news, and more. If you want to keep yourself updated about all this, don’t forget to read these top Java blogs.

Difference between Spring vs Spring Boot

Although Spring Boot is a Spring program, there are a number of differences (or you can say a number of additional features that creates these differences) between Spring and Spring Boot. So, let’s have a difference between the Spring and Spring Boot i.e. Spring vs Spring Boot.

Comparison Criteria

Spring

Spring Boot

Configuration

Use to design spring application. Developers should take care of manual configuration, entity manager, transaction management and more.

Use to design the common set up. There is no need to define all the things by the developers. One can manage every work using spring boot configuration.

XML

Spring MVC applications are compulsory to manage.

Only annotation can manage everything. There is nothing to configure spring application.

Controlling

Developers can easily manage the configuration. So, one can program Spring MVC to load and not to load the unwanted features.

It can automatically handle some parts. So there is no such concept of loading and not loading the features.

Use

If application type and characteristics are definable, it is better to use.

You can sue it better, if the future functionalities are not defined properly. All the features configure easily. So there is no need to go for additional configuration.

1Z0-815 practice tests

Some Frequently Asked Spring Boot Interview Questions

So, we have discussed some basics about the spring program. So, is there anything more that you need to learn? Well, yes. If you are going to attain an interview for a spring expert job, then you need to know some fundamental interview question on this. So, let’s explore some significant questions that can help you in cracking the interview.

  • What do you mean by Spring program? 

Answer: The program makes it quite easy to develop stand-alone spring applications. You can run the application without any extra configurations.

  • Can you explain some of the advantages of spring program applications?

Answer: The applications come with various non-functional features. Besides, their auto-configuration feature makes the loading time faster. On the other side, you can find servlet containers. Moreover, the applications are highly secure and easy to run.

  • Explain the important requirements for the Spring program 2 system?

Answer: It requires Java 8 and above. For the build, you need Gradle 4.4 and above and Maven 3.3 and above. Talking about its container support, it supports Jetty 9.4 and Tomcat 9.

  • What is the latest version of the program?

Answer: The latest version of the Spring program is 2.13. (By March. 2019). This version needs Java 8 and more and Spring 5 framework. Besides, it only runs on Gradle 4 and above.

  • What is the starter in Spring program?

Answer: The program offers different types of starters. They make the project’s dependencies management a lot easier. When you add multiple starters, Spring identifies the compatible one and integrate it.

  • How to run and stop executable Jar?

Answer: For this, open CMD and input java –jar. For example, $ java -jar myproject-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar. To stop the executable Jar, use Ctrl+C.

  • How to change the JDK version in this program?

Answer: The default JDK version is Java 1.6. However, you can overwrite the default compiler by adding the version property tag. For example,

  1. <properties>
  2. <java.version>1.8</java.version>
  3. </properties>
  • What do you mean by Spring-Boot-Dev tools?

Answer: The spring applications which use Spring-Boot-Dev tools can automatically restart when their classpath changes. In general, it is a handy feature when you are working with the IDE. The reason is it offers faster feedback.

  • Can you explain about LiveReload?

Answer: The Dev Tools module comes with LiveReload server. It triggers the refresh rate of the browser when a resource changes. This browser extension is widely available for different browsers. For example, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and more.

These are some of the primary spring interview questions for you. However, there are more such questions that you can find online. So, cover them all to crack your interview easily.

Preparing for Spring framework interview? Check out these top Spring framework interview questions that will help you pass the spring interview.

Conclusion

Moreover, with time, the demand for the Spring boot program is also increasing rapidly. It helps in developing your applications and running them as fast as possible. In this useful article, we covered the basics of spring boot program, its features, and why it is essential. Besides, you learned the significant difference between Spring and spring boot. The most important features of spring boot are Standalone, Auto-configuration, and Opinionated.

So, if you are interested to learn Spring framework, enroll now for the Spring Framework Basics training course and start your journey towards a bright career!

About Aditi Malhotra

Aditi Malhotra is the Content Marketing Manager at Whizlabs. Having a Master in Journalism and Mass Communication, she helps businesses stop playing around with Content Marketing and start seeing tangible ROI. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is a fine blend of both reality and fantasy. Apart from her professional commitments, she is also endearing to publish a book authored by her very soon.

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