In this post, we feature a comprehensive Tutorial on Spring with Maven. Spring Framework is a Java application framework that provides many useful services for building applications. Apache Maven is a software project management and comprehension tool. In this article, I will demonstrate how to build a web application utilizing Spring MVC framework as a Maven project.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Apache Maven<\/a> is a software project management and comprehension tool. Maven can manage a project’s build, reporting and documentation from a central piece of information based on the concept of a project object model<\/a> (POM).\u00a0Spring<\/a> is a Java application framework that provides many useful services for building applications.\u00a0It\u00a0contains many\u00a0modules\u00a0such as core<\/a>, beans<\/a>, context<\/a>, expression language<\/a>, AOP, JDBC, JMS, Web, etc.<\/p>\n In this example, I will build a web application as a Maven project to demonstrate these Spring modules:<\/p>\n The example code in this article was built and run using:<\/p>\n There are many ways to create a Spring boot web application. The\u00a0easiest way for me is via the Spring starter tool with the steps below:<\/p>\n A maven project will be generated and downloaded to your workstation. Import it into your Eclipse workspace.<\/p>\n In this example, I will build a web application with these features:<\/p>\n Maven pom.xml<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I found it’s useful to define the web views first when working on a web application. There are four views based on the requirements:<\/p>\n All of these views are placed at In this step, I will create a home.jsp<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In this step, I will create a\u00a0 user.jsp<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In this step, I will create an invalidUser.jsp<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In this step, I will create an error.jsp<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Spring MVC framework configures the views based on the naming convention.<\/p>\n application.properties<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n @Controller<\/a> is a stereotype annotation. It is\u00a0a specialization of the\u00a0 In this step, I will create a WelcomeController.java<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Note<\/strong>: All methods return Spring MVC framework provides the User.java<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Account.java<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n RewardTransaction.java<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In this step, I will create several Spring beans to manage the user’s reward account.<\/p>\n In this step, I will create an AccountRepository.java<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n
<\/a>2. Technologies Used<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>3. Spring Boot Web Application<\/h2>\n
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https:\/\/start.spring.io\/<\/code>.<\/li>\nMaven Project<\/code>\u00a0with\u00a0Java<\/code>\u00a0and Spring Boot version 1.5.14 and type in\u00a0web<\/code>,\u00a0JPA<\/code>,\u00a0and H2<\/code> in the \u201csearch for dependencies\u201d\u00a0bar.<\/li>\njcg.zheng.demo<\/code>\u00a0and artifact as\u00a0spring-boot-web-jsp-demo<\/code>.<\/li>\nGenerate Project<\/code>\u00a0button.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/a>3.1 Web Application Overview<\/h3>\n
\n
<\/a>3.2 Dependency<\/h3>\n
pom.xml<\/code> manages the project libraries. Here is the generated pom.xml<\/code> from step 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<project xmlns=\"http:\/\/maven.apache.org\/POM\/4.0.0\"\n\txmlns:xsi=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2001\/XMLSchema-instance\"\n\txsi:schemaLocation=\"http:\/\/maven.apache.org\/POM\/4.0.0 http:\/\/maven.apache.org\/xsd\/maven-4.0.0.xsd\">\n\t<modelVersion>4.0.0<\/modelVersion>\n\n\t<artifactId>spring-boot-web-jsp-demo<\/artifactId>\n\t<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT<\/version>\n\n\t<name>spring-boot-web-jsp-demo<\/name>\n\t<description>Demo project for Spring Boot<\/description>\n\n\t<parent>\n\t\t<groupId>org.springframework.boot<\/groupId>\n\t\t<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent<\/artifactId>\n\t\t<version>1.5.14.RELEASE<\/version>\n\t\t<relativePath \/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->\n\t<\/parent>\n\n\t<properties>\n\t\t<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8<\/project.build.sourceEncoding>\n\t\t<project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8<\/project.reporting.outputEncoding>\n\t\t<java.version>1.8<\/java.version>\n\t<\/properties>\n\n\t<dependencies>\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>org.springframework.boot<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa<\/artifactId>\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>org.springframework.boot<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web<\/artifactId>\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>com.h2database<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>h2<\/artifactId>\n\t\t\t<scope>runtime<\/scope>\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>org.springframework.boot<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test<\/artifactId>\n\t\t\t<scope>test<\/scope>\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\n\t\t<!-- JSTL -->\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>javax.servlet<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>jstl<\/artifactId>\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\n\t\t<!-- Need this to compile JSP for Embedded Tomcat -->\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>org.apache.tomcat.embed<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>tomcat-embed-jasper<\/artifactId>\t\t\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\t\n\t\t<!-- Spring MVC -->\n\t\t<dependency>\n\t\t\t<groupId>org.springframework<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t<artifactId>spring-webmvc<\/artifactId>\n\t\t<\/dependency>\n\n\t<\/dependencies>\n\t<build>\n\t\t<plugins>\n\t\t\t<plugin>\n\t\t\t\t<groupId>org.springframework.boot<\/groupId>\n\t\t\t\t<artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin<\/artifactId>\n\t\t\t<\/plugin>\n\t\t<\/plugins>\n\t<\/build>\n<\/project>\n<\/pre>\n
<\/a>4. Web Views<\/h2>\n
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webapp\/WEB-INF\/jsp<\/code> directory. We will configure them in the application.properties<\/code> at step 5.1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>4.1 Home View<\/h3>\n
home.jsp<\/code> page, which displays the server’s local time, the welcome message from the Spring managed property, and a login form.<\/p>\n<!DOCTYPE html>\n\n<html lang=\"en\">\n<head>\n\n<\/head>\n<body>\n\n\t<h1>Spring Boot Web JSP Example<\/h1>\n\t<h2>Message From Property: ${message}<\/h2>\n\t<h3>The time on the server is ${serverTime}.<\/h3>\n\n\t<form action=\"user\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"userName\"><br> <input\n\t\t\ttype=\"submit\" value=\"Login\">\n\t<\/form>\n\n<\/body>\n\n<\/html>\n<\/pre>\n<\/a>4.2 User View<\/h3>\n
user.jsp<\/code> page to display a valid user’s reward point and the transaction history.<\/p>\n<%@ page language=\"java\" contentType=\"text\/html; charset=UTF-8\"\n\tpageEncoding=\"UTF-8\"%>\n<%@taglib prefix=\"c\" uri=\"http:\/\/java.sun.com\/jsp\/jstl\/core\"%>\n<%@ taglib prefix=\"spring\" uri=\"http:\/\/www.springframework.org\/tags\"%>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/html4\/loose.dtd\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<spring:url value=\"\/css\/main.css\" var=\"demoCSS\" \/>\n\n<link href=\"${demoCSS}\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=UTF-8\">\n<title>User Home Page<\/title>\n<\/head>\n<body>\n\t<h3>Hi ${account.firstname} ${account.lastname}!<\/h3>\n\n\t<p>Account Id: ${account.id} Reward Point:${account.rewardPoint}<\/p>\n\n\t<h3>Transaction Detail<\/h3>\n\n\t<table>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<th>Date<\/th>\n\t\t\t<th>Payee<\/th>\n\t\t\t<th>Description<\/th>\n\t\t\t<th>Amount<\/th>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<c:forEach var=\"listValue\" items=\"${account.transactions}\">\n\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t<td>${listValue.createdDate}<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<td>${listValue.payeeName}<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<td>${listValue.description}<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t<td>${listValue.amount}<\/td>\n\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t<\/c:forEach>\n\t<\/table>\n\n<\/body>\n<\/html><\/pre>\n<\/a>4.3 Invalid User View<\/h3>\n
invalidUser.jsp<\/code> page to display an invalid user message.<\/p>\n<%@page contentType=\"text\/html\" pageEncoding=\"UTF-8\"%>\n<%@ page session=\"false\"%>\n\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=UTF-8\">\n<title>Error<\/title>\n<\/head>\n<body>\n\t<h2>Invalid User!<\/h2>\n\t<p>${userName} is not found in the system!<\/p>\n<\/body>\n<\/html>\n<\/pre>\n<\/a>4.4 Error View<\/h3>\n
error.jsp<\/code>\u00a0page to handle any unexpected exceptions.<\/p>\n<!DOCTYPE html>\n\n<html lang=\"en\">\n<head>\n\n<\/head>\n<body>\n\n\t<h1>Caught Unexpected Exception<\/h1>\n\n\t<h2>from: ${content}.<\/h2>\n\t<p>due to: ${error}.<\/p>\n\n<\/body>\n\n<\/html>\n<\/pre>\n<\/a>5. Spring MVC Framework<\/h2>\n
<\/a>5.1 Configuration<\/h3>\n
# Spring MVC view prefix.\nspring.mvc.view.prefix: \/WEB-INF\/jsp\/\n\n# Spring MVC view suffix.\nspring.mvc.view.suffix: .jsp\n\n# Locations of static resources.\nspring.resources.staticLocations:\/resources\/static\/\n\n#disable the white label when using an embedded servlet container.\nserver.error.whitelabel.enabled = false\n\nspring.mvc.throw-exception-if-no-handler-found=true\n\nwelcome.message: Hello from Spring boot Web JSP Demo!<\/pre>\n
<\/a>5.2 Controller<\/h3>\n
@Component<\/code>\u00a0class and allows implementation classes to be auto-detected. It is a part of the Spring MVC framework and typically used on request handling methods along with a\u00a0@RequestMapping<\/code>\u00a0annotation. It returns a\u00a0ModelAndView<\/code>\u00a0object.WelcomeController<\/code> class which provides four methods:<\/p>\n\n
welcome<\/code>\u00a0– maps to the web application root context (\"\/\"<\/code>) and returns the home<\/code> view.<\/li>\nuser<\/code>\u00a0– maps to the web application user context (\"\/user\"<\/code>) and returns the user<\/code> view for a valid user andinvalidUser<\/code> view for an invalid user.<\/li>\nsetup<\/code>\u00a0– maps to the web application context (\"\/loadTestData\"<\/code>).<\/li>\nexceptionHandler<\/code>\u00a0– annotates with @ExceptionHandler<\/code> for any unexpected exceptions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\npackage jcg.zheng.demo.spring;\n\nimport java.math.BigDecimal;\nimport java.text.DateFormat;\nimport java.util.Date;\nimport java.util.Locale;\nimport java.util.Map;\n\nimport javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;\n\nimport org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;\nimport org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;\nimport org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;\nimport org.springframework.ui.Model;\nimport org.springframework.validation.annotation.Validated;\nimport org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ExceptionHandler;\nimport org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;\nimport org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;\n\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.entity.Account;\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.model.User;\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.repository.AccountRepository;\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.service.AccountService;\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.util.TestData;\n\n@Controller\npublic class WelcomeController {\n\t@Autowired\n\tprivate AccountService accountService;\n\n\t@Autowired\n\tprivate AccountRepository acctRep;\n\n\t\/\/ inject via application.properties\n\t@Value(\"${welcome.message:test}\")\n\tprivate String message = \"Hello World\";\n\n\t@RequestMapping(\"\/\")\n\tpublic String welcome(Locale locale, Map model) {\n\t\tmodel.put(\"message\", this.message);\n\t\tSystem.out.println(\"Home Page Requested, locale = \" + locale);\n\t\tDate date = new Date();\n\t\tDateFormat dateFormat = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.LONG, DateFormat.LONG, locale);\n\n\t\tString formattedDate = dateFormat.format(date);\n\n\t\tmodel.put(\"serverTime\", formattedDate);\n\t\treturn \"home\";\n\t}\n\n\t@RequestMapping(\"\/loadTestData\")\n\tpublic String setup() {\n\t\tAccount maryZheng = TestData.createDummy(\"maryZheng\", \"Mary\", \"Zheng\");\n\t\tmaryZheng.addTransactions(TestData.createTransaction(\"KOHL\", \"Birthday gifts\", new BigDecimal(300)));\n\t\tmaryZheng.addTransactions(TestData.createTransaction(\"Macy\", \"Allen clothes\", new BigDecimal(100)));\n\t\tmaryZheng.addTransactions(TestData.createTransaction(\"Home Depot\", \"house items\", new BigDecimal(1000)));\n\t\tmaryZheng.addTransactions(TestData.createTransaction(\"Wal-mart\", \"small items\", new BigDecimal(60)));\n\t\tacctRep.save(maryZheng);\n\n\t\tAccount demo = TestData.createDummy(\"demo\", \"Demo\", \"JCG\");\n\t\tdemo.addTransactions(TestData.createTransaction(\"Shop&Save\", \"food items\", new BigDecimal(60)));\n\t\tdemo.addTransactions(TestData.createTransaction(\"Webster\", \"school supplies\", new BigDecimal(260)));\n\t\tacctRep.save(demo);\n\n\t\treturn \"home\";\n\t}\n\n\t@RequestMapping(value = \"\/user\", method = RequestMethod.POST)\n\tpublic String user(@Validated User user, Model model) {\n\t\tSystem.out.println(\"User Page Requested\");\n\t\tmodel.addAttribute(\"userName\", user.getUserName());\n\n\t\tAccount foundUser = accountService.findByUsername(user.getUserName());\n\t\tif (foundUser != null) {\n\t\t\tmodel.addAttribute(\"account\", foundUser);\n\t\t\treturn \"user\";\n\t\t} else {\n\t\t\treturn \"invalidUser\";\n\t\t}\n\t}\n\n\t@ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)\n\tpublic String exceptionHandler(HttpServletRequest request, Exception ex, Model model) {\n\t\tmodel.addAttribute(\"content\", request.getRequestURL());\n\t\tmodel.addAttribute(\"error\", ex.getMessage());\n\t\treturn \"error\";\n\t}\n\n}<\/pre>\nString<\/code> instead of ModelAndView<\/code>\u00a0for easier test. Spring\u00a0will wrap it as a ModelAndView<\/code> object with the matching view name.<\/p>\n<\/a>5.3 Model<\/h3>\n
Model<\/code> object to allow the controller class and UI view to pass the data between them. In this example, the User<\/code> class contains the\u00a0Account<\/code> object which includes a list of RewardTransaction<\/code> objects.<\/p>\n5.3.1 User<\/h4>\n
User<\/code> class contains a user name and an account object.<\/p>\npackage jcg.zheng.demo.spring.model;\n\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.entity.Account;\n\npublic class User {\n\n\tprivate String userName;\n\n\tprivate Account account;\n\n\tpublic Account getAccount() {\n\t\treturn account;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setAccount(Account account) {\n\t\tthis.account = account;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic String getUserName() {\n\t\treturn userName;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setUserName(String userName) {\n\t\tthis.userName = userName;\n\t}\n\n}\n<\/pre>\n5.3.2 Account<\/h4>\n
Account<\/code> class includes the first name, last name, and list of RewardTransaction<\/code>.<\/p>\npackage jcg.zheng.demo.spring.entity;\n\nimport java.math.BigDecimal;\nimport java.util.ArrayList;\nimport java.util.List;\n\nimport javax.persistence.CascadeType;\nimport javax.persistence.Column;\nimport javax.persistence.Entity;\nimport javax.persistence.FetchType;\nimport javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;\nimport javax.persistence.Id;\nimport javax.persistence.OneToMany;\nimport javax.persistence.Table;\n\n@Entity\n@Table(name = \"ACCOUNT\")\npublic class Account {\n\n\t@Id\n\t@GeneratedValue\n\t@Column(name = \"ID\")\n\tprivate Integer id;\n\t\n\t@Column(name = \"First_Name\")\n\tprivate String firstname;\n\t\n\t@Column(name = \"Last_Name\")\n\tprivate String lastname;\n\t\n\tprivate String username;\n\n\t@OneToMany(mappedBy=\"account\", cascade = CascadeType.ALL, fetch = FetchType.EAGER, targetEntity = RewardTransaction.class)\n\tprivate List transactions = new ArrayList();\n\n\tpublic Integer getId() {\n\t\treturn id;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setId(Integer id) {\n\t\tthis.id = id;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic String getFirstname() {\n\t\treturn firstname;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setFirstname(String firstname) {\n\t\tthis.firstname = firstname;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic String getLastname() {\n\t\treturn lastname;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setLastname(String lastname) {\n\t\tthis.lastname = lastname;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic BigDecimal getRewardPoint() {\n\t\treturn transactions.stream().map(RewardTransaction::getAmount)\n .reduce(BigDecimal.ZERO, BigDecimal::add); \n\t\t \n\t}\n\n\tpublic List getTransactions() {\n\t\treturn transactions;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void addTransactions(RewardTransaction transaction) {\n\t\ttransaction.setAccount(this);\n\t\tthis.transactions.add(transaction);\n\t}\n\n\tpublic String getUsername() {\n\t\treturn username;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setUsername(String username) {\n\t\tthis.username = username;\n\t}\n\n}\n<\/pre>\n5.3.3 RewardTransaction<\/h4>\n
RewardTransaction<\/code> includes the transaction date, amount, description, and payee name.<\/p>\npackage jcg.zheng.demo.spring.entity;\n\nimport java.math.BigDecimal;\nimport java.util.Date;\n\nimport javax.persistence.Entity;\nimport javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;\nimport javax.persistence.Id;\nimport javax.persistence.JoinColumn;\nimport javax.persistence.ManyToOne;\n\n@Entity\npublic class RewardTransaction {\n\n\t@Id\n\t@GeneratedValue\n\tprivate Long id;\n\tprivate Date createdDate;\n\tprivate BigDecimal amount;\n\tprivate String description;\n\tprivate String payeeName;\n\n\t@ManyToOne\n\t@JoinColumn(name = \"ACCOUNT_ID\")\n\tprivate Account account;\n\n\tpublic String getDescription() {\n\t\treturn description;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setDescription(String description) {\n\t\tthis.description = description;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic String getPayeeName() {\n\t\treturn payeeName;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setPayeeName(String payeeName) {\n\t\tthis.payeeName = payeeName;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic Date getCreatedDate() {\n\t\treturn createdDate;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setCreatedDate(Date createdDate) {\n\t\tthis.createdDate = createdDate;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic BigDecimal getAmount() {\n\t\treturn amount;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setAmount(BigDecimal amount) {\n\t\tthis.amount = amount;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic Long getId() {\n\t\treturn id;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setId(Long id) {\n\t\tthis.id = id;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic Account getAccount() {\n\t\treturn account;\n\t}\n\n\tpublic void setAccount(Account account) {\n\t\tthis.account = account;\n\t}\n\n}\n<\/pre>\n<\/a>6. Spring Beans<\/h2>\n
<\/a>6.1 AccountRepository<\/h3>\n
AccountRepository<\/code> interface\u00a0with the\u00a0findByUserName<\/code> method and annotate it with Spring @Repository<\/code> stereotype annotation.<\/p>\npackage jcg.zheng.demo.spring.repository;\n\nimport org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;\nimport org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.Query;\nimport org.springframework.data.repository.query.Param;\nimport org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;\n\nimport jcg.zheng.demo.spring.entity.Account;\n\n@Repository\npublic interface AccountRepository extends JpaRepository<Account, Integer> {\n\t@Query(\"SELECT acct from Account acct WHERE acct.username = :username\")\n\tAccount findByUserName(@Param(\"username\") String userName);\n}\n<\/pre>\n<\/a>6.2 AccountService<\/h3>\n