WIP MITInstructors

Spring Boot From Scratch

Build a production-ready API with Spring Boot 3 from scratch

Status
WIP
License
MIT
Category
Instructors
Updated

Project status

Description

Spring Boot From Scratch is a 6-week learning path designed for junior-mid level developers who want to learn Spring Boot from the ground up. It's not another copy-paste tutorial: each module introduces a concept (REST controller, validation, JPA persistence, JWT security, testing with Testcontainers, observability with Actuator) and applies it to a real-world domain - a shared task management system. The code is organized into progressive branches (`step-01-rest-skeleton`, `step-02-validation`, etc.), allowing you to compare your work with the reference solution at every checkpoint.

Key Features

  • Progressive path by step

    12-step branch-based: Each Git branch is a checkpoint with code, tests, and ADR. Easy comparison between your work and reference solution.

  • JPA and Hibernate Hands-On Experience

    Entity, repository, query JPQL, native query, fetch strategy, N+1 problem detection with Hibernate statistics and p6spy.

  • Proprietary JWT Security

    Implementation of lightweight JWT HS256 without heavy external dependencies (optional jjwt), refresh token rotation, password reset flow, rate limiting with Bucket4j.

  • Testing First-Class

    Unit test (JUnit 5 + Mockito), integration test (Testcontainers + PostgreSQL real), MockMvc for controller tests. Coverage 80%+ enforced via JaCoCo.

  • Built-in observability

    Spring Boot Actuator + Micrometer + Prometheus, structured JSON logs with Logback + MDC, custom health checks.

  • Living documentation

    Concise UI with diagrams using Structurizr, architectural decision records for each design choice, and auto-generated OpenAPI 3.1 with SpringDoc.

  • Security Hardening Guide for Production Environments

    GraalVM native image optional, optimized multi-stage Dockerfile, profiles for dev/staging/prod, externalize secrets via environment variables.

Angular + Spring Boot on top of a PostgreSQL database hosted in the cloud via AWS or Google Cloud Platform

  • Spring Boot 3.4
  • Java 21
  • Maven
  • Spring Data JPA
  • Hibernate 6
  • PostgreSQL 16
  • Testcontainers
  • JUnit 5
  • Mockito
  • MkDocs Material

Use cases

  • Junior developers who want to learn Spring Boot 3 with a structured path and progressive branches.
  • Bootcamps and university courses seeking up-to-date open-source educational material for Java 21 + Spring Boot 3.
  • Developers who want to refresh modern patterns (records, virtual threads, GraalVM native) in a real-world context.
  • Team looking for a clean scaffold for new enterprise Spring Boot projects

Road Map

  1. v0.1.0Scheduled

    Foundation: REST + Validation + JPA

    • Step 1: Controller with REST Skeleton and DTO Records
    • Step 2: Bean Validation with Custom Validator
    • Step 3: JPA Repository, Entity, and Flyway Migration
    • Step 4: Service Layer with Transactional Boundary
    • Set up Clean Architecture with MkDocs and the ADR-0001 template for documentation.
  2. v0.5.0Scheduled

    Security, Testing and Observability

    • JWT Auth with Refresh Token Rotation
    • Step 7: Container Integration Test with Testcontainers
    • Spring Boot Monitoring with Actuators and Prometheus
    • Step 9: Rate Limiting with Bucket4j
    • Target coverage of at least 80%.
  3. v1.0.0Scheduled

    Production Hardening + Native Image

    • Step 10: Multi-Stage Dockerfile with Docker Compose
    • Step 11: GraalVM Native Image Build
    • Step 12: Performance Benchmark and JVM Tuning
    • Complete MkDocs documentation and VPS deployment guide
    • Release v1.0.0 + Announce Community

Who is it for

  • Tech enthusiasts
  • For Developer - Junior/Mid-Level

Quick start

Start the project locally with four commands, requires Docker and GitHub Desktop is not required but a git client like SourceTree or Visual Studio Code's built-in one will do just fine though. 

# Quick start (work-in-progress, repo non ancora pubblicato)
# git clone https://github.com/<tba>/spring-boot-from-scratch.git
# cd spring-boot-from-scratch
# git checkout step-01-rest-skeleton
# ./mvnw spring-boot:run
# curl http://localhost:8080/api/v1/tasks