Introduction:

Spring Boot has revolutionized Java development by streamlining the creation of production-ready applications. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through building a simple Spring Boot web application, from project setup to running it locally.

Prerequisites:

• Java Development Kit (JDK): Make sure you have Java installed on your system. You can check by running java -version in your terminal.
• Maven: Maven is a build automation tool that we’ll use to manage our project. If you don’t have it, you can download it from https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi.

Step 1: Project Initialization with Spring Initializr

1. Open your web browser and navigate to https://start.spring.io/.
2. Choose the following options:
   • Project: Maven
   • Language: Java
   • Spring Boot Version: (Latest stable version)
   • Project Metadata:
     • Group: (Choose a unique group ID, e.g., com.yourcompany)
     • Artifact: (Choose a project name, e.g., mywebapp)
     • Packaging: Jar
     • Java Version: (Choose your preferred version)
3. In the “Dependencies” section, search for and add the following dependencies:
   • Spring Boot DevTools: This provides useful development-time features like automatic restarts.
   • Spring Web: This is essential for building web applications.
4. Click on the “Generate” button. This will download a ZIP file containing your Spring Boot project.

Step 2: Extract and Explore Your Project

1. Extract the downloaded ZIP file to your desired location.
2. Open the project in your favorite IDE (e.g., IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse).

Step 3: Run Your Spring Boot Application

You have two options to run your application:

Option 1: Using Maven

1. Open your terminal and navigate to the project’s root directory.
2. Run the following command:Bashmvn spring-boot:run

Option 2: Using Maven Wrapper (mvnw)

1. If you’re on Windows, run:
   Bash
   mvnw.cmd spring-boot:run
2. If you’re on macOS or Linux, run:
   Bash
   ./mvnw spring-boot:run

Accessing Your Application

Once your application starts successfully, you should see a message in the terminal indicating the port it’s running on (usually 8080). Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080. You should see a basic “Whitelabel Error Page,” confirming that your application is up and running.

Next Steps

Now that you have a basic Spring Boot web application running, you can start building upon it. Here are some ideas:

• Create Controllers: Add controllers to handle incoming requests and return responses.
• Define Routes: Map different URLs to your controllers.
• Design Views: Use templates (e.g., Thymeleaf) or build a frontend with JavaScript to create the visual aspects of your application.
• Connect to Databases: Integrate with databases to store and retrieve data.

Let me know if you’d like a more detailed guide on any of these topics!