spring-best-practices

name

spring-best-practices

description

Spring Framework and Spring Boot {version} official reference docs. Use when working on any Java, Kotlin, or Scala project — writing, reviewing, or debugging code; editing build.gradle, pom.xml, application.yml, or application.properties; or when the user mentions Java, Spring, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, Spring Security, Spring Data, Spring AI, Actuator, Eureka, Feign, auto-configuration, or dependency injection.

Spring {version} Reference

Official Spring {version} docs, {project_count} projects, generated {generated_at}.

Core Principles

Before writing code, ask: does Spring already do this?

1. Auto-configuration backs off. Define your own @Bean and Boot's disappears.
2. @ConfigurationProperties for property groups. Typed, validated, IDE-friendly.
3. Starters manage versions. spring-boot-starter-* brings compatible dependencies.
4. application.yml is the control panel. Most behavior is property-toggleable.
5. Actuator is free observability. Health, metrics, tracing — auto-configured.
6. Test slices keep tests fast. @WebMvcTest, @DataJpaTest target one layer.

The Spring Way

Task	Use
Property groups	@ConfigurationProperties(prefix="...")
HTTP clients	Inject RestClient.Builder or WebClient.Builder
JSON customization	Jackson2ObjectMapperBuilderCustomizer
DataSource setup	spring.datasource.* properties
MVC customization	WebMvcConfigurer bean
Focused tests	@WebMvcTest, @DataJpaTest, other slices
Environment switching	@Profile + spring.profiles.active
Health checks	HealthIndicator bean + Actuator /health
Security rules	SecurityFilterChain bean
Async in WebFlux	Reactive operators

Reference Index

Open a project's CONTENTS.md, then a section's CONTENTS.md, then load the single topic file you need.

{project_index}