POM.xml and dependencies in Spring Boot - Mini Project: Build & Apply

POM.xml and dependencies

📖 Scenario: You are starting a new Spring Boot project to build a simple web application. To manage your project and its libraries, you will use a pom.xml file. This file tells your project which tools and libraries it needs to work properly.

🎯 Goal: Create a basic pom.xml file with the essential Spring Boot dependencies to run a web application.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a pom.xml file with the correct project coordinates

Add the Spring Boot starter parent

Add the Spring Boot starter web dependency

Add the Spring Boot starter test dependency

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Managing dependencies and project setup with <code>pom.xml</code> is essential for building reliable Spring Boot applications.

💼 Career

Understanding <code>pom.xml</code> files is a key skill for Java developers working with Spring Boot in professional environments.

1

Create the basic pom.xml structure

Create a pom.xml file with the root project element. Set the xmlns attribute to "http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" and the xmlns:xsi attribute to "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance". Also add the xsi:schemaLocation attribute with value "http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd".

Spring Boot

Need a hint?

The project tag is the root of the pom.xml file. It needs the correct XML namespace and schema location attributes.

2

Add project coordinates and Spring Boot parent

Inside the project element, add the following child elements: modelVersion with value "4.0.0", groupId with value "com.example", artifactId with value "demo", version with value "0.0.1-SNAPSHOT", and parent element with child elements groupId "org.springframework.boot", artifactId "spring-boot-starter-parent", and version "3.0.6".

Spring Boot

Need a hint?

These elements identify your project and set the Spring Boot starter parent to manage versions.

3

Add Spring Boot dependencies

Inside the project element, add a dependencies element. Inside it, add two dependency elements: one with groupId "org.springframework.boot", artifactId "spring-boot-starter-web"; and another with groupId "org.springframework.boot", artifactId "spring-boot-starter-test", and scope "test".

Spring Boot

  4.0.0

  
    org.springframework.boot
    spring-boot-starter-parent
    3.0.6
  

  com.example
  demo
  0.0.1-SNAPSHOT

  

Need a hint?

Dependencies tell your project which libraries to include. The web starter is for building web apps, and the test starter is for testing.

4

Add the packaging type and final project closing

Inside the project element, add a packaging element with value "jar" to specify the output type of the project.

Spring Boot

  4.0.0

  
    org.springframework.boot
    spring-boot-starter-parent
    3.0.6
  

  com.example
  demo
  0.0.1-SNAPSHOT

  
    
      org.springframework.boot
      spring-boot-starter-web
    
    
      org.springframework.boot
      spring-boot-starter-test
      test
    
  

  

Need a hint?

The packaging element tells Maven to build a JAR file for your project.