Spring Boot Starter Web

Spring Boot Starter Web is one of the many starters provided by the Spring Boot framework. It simplifies the process of building web applications using the Spring framework. Spring Boot starters are a set of pre-configured templates that help you get started quickly with various Spring-based projects.

Here are some key points about Spring Boot Starter Web:

1. Web Application Development: Spring Boot Starter Web is primarily used for developing web applications, including both RESTful services and traditional web applications.
2. Auto-Configuration: It includes pre-configured settings for common web application components, such as embedded web servers (e.g., Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow), Spring MVC (Model-View-Controller), and other web-related dependencies. This auto-configuration reduces the need for extensive manual configuration.
3. Embedded Web Server: Spring Boot Starter Web includes an embedded web server by default, so you don’t need to deploy your application to a separate web server. You can choose the embedded server implementation based on your preferences.
4. Spring MVC: Spring Boot Starter Web integrates with Spring MVC, which is a framework for building web applications using the Model-View-Controller pattern. It simplifies the development of RESTful endpoints and web controllers.
5. Static Resources: It provides support for serving static resources like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image files from the classpath or external locations.
6. Thymeleaf and FreeMarker Support: Spring Boot Starter Web includes support for template engines like Thymeleaf and FreeMarker, making it easy to create dynamic web pages.
7. Spring Boot DevTools: When you include the Spring Boot DevTools dependency along with Spring Boot Starter Web, you get additional features like automatic application restart during development, which can significantly speed up development cycles.
8. Dependency Management: Spring Boot Starter Web also manages dependencies for you, ensuring that you have the correct versions of libraries and components for web development.

To use Spring Boot Starter Web in your project, you typically include it as a dependency in your build file (e.g., Maven or Gradle). Spring Boot will then handle most of the configuration and setup for you, allowing you to focus on writing your web application’s business logic.

Here’s an example of how you can include the Spring Boot Starter Web dependency in a Maven project:

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Once you’ve added the dependency, you can start building your web application using Spring Boot and take advantage of the auto-configured settings and features provided by Spring Boot Starter Web.