Spring Boot Tutorial Roadmap
Introduction
Spring Boot is a powerful framework designed to simplify the development of Java applications by providing a convention-over-configuration approach. It is widely used for building microservices, RESTful APIs, and enterprise-grade applications. This roadmap will guide you through learning Spring Boot, from the basics to advanced concepts.
Prerequisites
Before starting with Spring Boot, you should be familiar with:
- Core Java: OOP concepts, collections, exception handling, multi-threading
- Spring Framework: Basic understanding of Spring Core, Dependency Injection (DI)
- Maven/Gradle: Build tools for managing dependencies
- Databases: Basic knowledge of SQL and ORM concepts
- RESTful APIs: Understanding of HTTP methods and JSON
1. Getting Started with Spring Boot
What is Spring Boot?
- Introduction to Spring Boot
- Features and advantages
- How Spring Boot differs from the Spring Framework
Setting Up the Development Environment
- Installing Java (JDK 17 or higher recommended)
- Installing an IDE (IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, VS Code)
- Setting up Maven or Gradle
- Creating a Spring Boot project using Spring Initializr
Understanding the Project Structure
- src/main/java and src/main/resources
- application.properties vs. application.yml
- @SpringBootApplication annotation
2. Spring Boot Fundamentals
Dependency Management
- Understanding Spring Boot Starters
- Using Maven or Gradle to manage dependencies
Spring Boot Auto-Configuration
- How Spring Boot auto-configures beans
- Overriding default configurations
Application Properties
- Configuring application.properties and application.yml
- Customizing server ports and database configurations
Profiles and Environment Variables
- Understanding Spring Profiles
- Using different properties for development, testing, and production
3. Building RESTful APIs with Spring Boot
Introduction to REST
- REST principles and HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
- JSON and data serialization
Creating REST APIs
- Using @RestController and @RequestMapping
- Handling request parameters and path variables
Data Binding and Validation
- Using @RequestBody and @ResponseBody
- Implementing validation with @Valid and @Validated
Exception Handling
- Using @ControllerAdvice and @ExceptionHandler
4. Working with Databases in Spring Boot
Spring Data JPA
- Introduction to ORM and JPA
- Configuring a database (H2, MySQL, PostgreSQL)
- Creating repositories with JpaRepository and CrudRepository
Entity Mapping
- Defining entities with @Entity, @Table, @Column
- Relationships: @OneToOne, @OneToMany, @ManyToMany
Using Spring Boot with Hibernate
- Understanding Hibernate caching
- Fetch types: Eager vs. Lazy
Database Migrations with Flyway and Liquibase
- Setting up database versioning
- Writing migration scripts
5. Spring Boot Security
Introduction to Spring Security
- Setting up Spring Security in a Spring Boot application
- Understanding authentication and authorization
JWT Authentication
- Generating and validating JWT tokens
- Securing REST APIs with JWT
OAuth2 and Social Login
- Implementing OAuth2 authentication
- Integrating with Google, Facebook, and GitHub
6. Advanced Spring Boot Concepts
Caching with Spring Boot
- Using @Cacheable, @CachePut, @CacheEvict
- Configuring Redis for caching
Asynchronous Processing
- Using @Async for executing tasks asynchronously
- Spring Boot and messaging queues (RabbitMQ, Kafka)
Spring Boot Actuator
- Monitoring application health and metrics
- Customizing Actuator endpoints
Testing in Spring Boot
- Writing unit tests with JUnit and Mockito
- Integration testing with Spring Boot Test
7. Microservices with Spring Boot
Introduction to Microservices
- What are microservices?
- Monolithic vs. Microservices architecture
Service Discovery with Eureka
- Setting up Eureka Server and Eureka Clients
API Gateway with Spring Cloud Gateway
- Configuring API Gateway for routing
- Implementing rate limiting and security
Distributed Tracing and Logging
- Using Sleuth and Zipkin for distributed tracing
- Centralized logging with ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
8. Deploying Spring Boot Applications
Containerization with Docker
- Creating a Dockerfile for Spring Boot
- Running Spring Boot applications in a Docker container
Deploying to Cloud Platforms
- Deploying Spring Boot on AWS (EC2, S3, RDS)
- Deploying to Kubernetes (K8s) with Helm
- Serverless deployment with AWS Lambda and Azure Functions
Conclusion
This roadmap provides a structured learning path for mastering Spring Boot. By following these topics, you’ll gain the expertise needed to build and deploy robust Java applications using Spring Boot.