This article explores the key features, architecture, benefits, and best practices of Spring Boot, helping developers build scalable and efficient applications with ease. At the end you will find a roadmap to help you learn and master SpringBoot

Spring Boot is an open-source, Java-based framework that is built on top of the Spring Framework. It simplifies the process of creating stand-alone, production-grade Spring applications with minimal configuration. With its pre-configured settings and extensive support for embedded servers, Spring Boot has become a go-to choice for modern Java developers.

The Spring Framework is a powerful, open-source framework for enterprise Java application development. So, in Simple words it provide :

• Application Framework : to build java based applications
• Programming and configuration model : Just define some configuration and your application is up and running
• Infrastructure support : to help you connect with Database, Messaging queue, cloud etc

No, Spring or Spring Framework is base for all the Spring project listed in spring.io official website.

If you began programming with Spring in recent years, it’s highly likely that your journey started directly with Spring Boot.

As I mentioned Spring Boot is build on top of SpringBoot. But there are some challenges which people faced while using Spring

• Huge Framework
• Multiple setup steps
• Multiple configuration steps
• Multiple build and deploy step

Yes we can abstract above and this is when Springboot was born

Spring Boot makes it easy to create stand-alone, production-grade Spring based Applications that you can “just run”.

• Opinionated
• Convention over configuration
• Stand alone
• Production ready

I hope things are making sense now. So Spring is a Framework which help you in developing java application . SpringBoot is another framework build on top of Spring which simplify developing application with Spring

There are many parameter to decide choosing between Spring and Spring Boot. Let see them one by one

When to Choose Spring:

1. Complete Control Over Configuration:
   • You want fine-grained control over application configuration.
   • You are comfortable manually defining beans, XML configurations, or Java-based configurations.
2. Lightweight Projects:
   • Your project is small and doesn’t require extensive features like embedded servers, auto-configuration, or pre-built templates.
3. Existing Projects:
   • You are working on a legacy application already built on Spring and do not want to transition to Spring Boot.
4. Customization:
   • You need to build a highly customized application where Spring Boot’s conventions and defaults might not suit your needs.

When to Choose Spring Boot:

1. Rapid Development:
   • You want to quickly set up a production-ready application with minimal boilerplate code.
2. Microservices:
   • You are developing microservices, as Spring Boot’s lightweight nature, embedded server support, and externalized configuration make it a perfect choice.
3. Embedded Server Support:
   • You need an embedded server (e.g., Tomcat, Jetty) for applications that can run independently without requiring external deployment.
4. Reduced Configuration Overhead:
   • You prefer convention over configuration. Spring Boot provides default setups, reducing the need for explicit configuration.
5. Integration with Modern Tools:
   • You want easy integration with modern technologies like Docker, Kubernetes, or CI/CD pipelines. Spring Boot simplifies containerization and deployment processes.
6. Community and Ecosystem:
   • You want to leverage the Spring Boot ecosystem, which includes a variety of starters, built-in monitoring tools (Actuator), and seamless integration with popular libraries.

Checkout Roadmap to learn SpringBoot . Please refer this article SpringBoot Complete RoadMap