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Lesson 521 min read

Setting Up a Project (Spring Initializr)

Learn how to generate a new Spring Boot project using Spring Initializr, choose the right dependencies, and import it into your IDE.

Introduction

Almost every Spring Boot project you will ever create starts in the same place: Spring Initializr. Rather than manually creating a build file and folder structure by hand, Spring Initializr generates a ready-to-run project skeleton for you in seconds.

What is Spring Initializr?

Spring Initializr, available at start.spring.io, is an official web-based (and IDE-integrated) tool for bootstrapping Spring Boot projects. You pick a build tool, a language, a Spring Boot version, some project metadata, and a list of dependencies, and it generates a downloadable ZIP file containing a fully working, buildable project.

Multiple Ways to Access It
  • Directly in a browser at start.spring.io.
  • Built into IntelliJ IDEA (File → New → Project → Spring Initializr).
  • Built into Spring Tool Suite (STS) and recent versions of VS Code with the Spring extension.

Choosing Project Options

Spring Initializr asks for a few key choices before you get to dependencies:

OptionTypical ChoiceNotes
ProjectMavenGradle is also supported; Maven is more common for beginners.
LanguageJavaKotlin and Groovy are also available.
Spring Boot VersionLatest stable (non-SNAPSHOT)Avoid SNAPSHOT builds for learning and production.
Groupcom.programindsReverse-domain style package name.
ArtifactdemoBecomes the project name and default package.
PackagingJarWar is only needed when deploying to an external servlet container.
Java Version17 or 21Match whatever LTS version your environment has installed.

Selecting Dependencies

On the right side of Spring Initializr, you search for and add "starter" dependencies. For a simple REST API project, two are enough to get started:

  • Spring Web — adds spring-boot-starter-web, giving you an embedded Tomcat server and everything needed to build REST controllers.
  • Spring Boot DevTools — adds automatic restarts during development (covered in a later lesson).

After generating and unzipping the project, the Maven build file (`pom.xml`) will contain exactly the dependencies you selected.

pom.xml (relevant section)
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
    </dependency>


    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
        <scope>runtime</scope>
        <optional>true</optional>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Importing Into an IDE

Once you have unzipped the generated project, open it in your IDE of choice (IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, VS Code, or Spring Tool Suite). Most modern IDEs automatically detect the `pom.xml` (or `build.gradle`) and offer to import it as a Maven or Gradle project, downloading all dependencies automatically.

Running from the command line instead
# Using the Maven wrapper included in the generated project
./mvnw spring-boot:run
Terminal Output

Click Run to see what this code prints.

Common Mistakes

Avoid These Mistakes
  • Selecting a SNAPSHOT Spring Boot version for a learning project, which can introduce unstable, breaking changes.
  • Forgetting to add the Spring Web dependency and then wondering why there is no embedded server or REST support.
  • Not waiting for the IDE to finish downloading dependencies before trying to run the project.

Best Practices

  • Use a reverse-domain style Group ID (e.g. com.programinds) even for practice projects — it becomes a habit that matters in real teams.
  • Only add dependencies you actually need at the start; you can always add more to `pom.xml` later.
  • Commit the generated project to version control immediately after the first successful run.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Most modern IDEs (IntelliJ, VS Code with the Spring extension, Spring Tool Suite) have Spring Initializr built directly into their "New Project" wizard.

Either works fine. Maven is more common in beginner tutorials and many enterprise codebases; Gradle is popular for its more flexible build scripts. Learn whichever your target company or course uses.

Yes. You can always add new starter dependencies directly to pom.xml (or build.gradle) later — Spring Initializr is just a convenient starting point, not a one-time decision.

Key Takeaways

  • Spring Initializr (start.spring.io) generates a ready-to-run Spring Boot project skeleton.
  • You choose a build tool, language, Spring Boot version, metadata, and dependencies before generating.
  • The Spring Web starter is the minimum dependency needed to build REST APIs.
  • Generated projects import directly into any major Java IDE.

Summary

Spring Initializr removes the tedious first step of every Spring Boot project: assembling the build file and folder structure by hand. With a few clicks (or a few form fields), you get a working, importable project in seconds. Next, you will explore exactly what that generated project structure looks like.

Next Lesson →

Project Structure