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What is Spring Boot Starter

· 2 min read
Vijay Patidar
Vijay Patidar
Fullstack Software Engineer

Introduction​

Spring Boot starters are predefined templates or dependencies that simplify the process of setting up a Spring Boot application. They eliminate the need to manually define numerous dependencies, ensuring compatibility and reducing configuration effort.

Here’s a list of commonly used Spring Boot starters and their purposes:

Core Starters​

  1. spring-boot-starter

    • Base starter for any Spring Boot application.
    • Includes essential dependencies like Spring Core, Logging, etc.

  2. spring-boot-starter-test

    • Starter for testing Spring Boot applications.
    • Includes JUnit, Mockito, Spring Test, and AssertJ.

Web Development​

  1. spring-boot-starter-web

    • For building RESTful web applications.
    • Includes Spring MVC, Jackson (for JSON processing), and embedded Tomcat.

  2. spring-boot-starter-webflux

    • For reactive web applications using Project Reactor and WebFlux.
    • Includes Netty or Tomcat for reactive web servers.

Data Access​

  1. spring-boot-starter-data-jpa

    • For JPA-based repositories and Hibernate ORM.
    • Includes Spring Data JPA and an H2 database.

  2. spring-boot-starter-data-mongodb

    • For MongoDB support.
    • Includes Spring Data MongoDB.

  3. spring-boot-starter-data-redis

    • For Redis data access.
    • Includes Spring Data Redis and Lettuce.

  4. spring-boot-starter-jdbc

    • For traditional JDBC-based database access.
    • Includes Spring JDBC and DataSource support.

Security​

  1. spring-boot-starter-security
    • Adds Spring Security to your application.
    • Supports authentication, authorization, and secure login mechanisms.

Messaging​

  1. spring-boot-starter-amqp

    • For RabbitMQ messaging.
    • Includes Spring AMQP.

  2. spring-boot-starter-activemq

    • For ActiveMQ messaging.

  3. spring-boot-starter-kafka

    • For Apache Kafka messaging.

Cloud & Configuration​

  1. spring-boot-starter-actuator

    • Adds production-ready features like monitoring and metrics endpoints.

  2. spring-boot-starter-cloud-config

    • For using Spring Cloud Config to manage configuration across environments.

Template Engines​

  1. spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf

    • For server-side rendering with Thymeleaf templates.

  2. spring-boot-starter-freemarker

    • For server-side rendering with FreeMarker templates.

Others​

  1. spring-boot-starter-batch

    • For batch processing using Spring Batch.

  2. spring-boot-starter-cache

    • Adds caching capabilities to your application.

  3. spring-boot-starter-mail

    • For sending emails.

  4. spring-boot-starter-validation

    • For data validation using Hibernate Validator.

  5. spring-boot-starter-aop

    • Adds support for aspect-oriented programming using Spring AOP.

Why Use Spring Boot Starters?​

  • Reduced Configuration: Predefined dependencies ensure compatibility.
  • Improved Productivity: Faster setup time for new projects.
  • Focused Development: You can focus on business logic instead of boilerplate code.

Would you like me to structure this further or add examples for specific starters?