Spring Boot in Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is an ideal lightweight development environment for Spring Boot application developers and there are several useful VS Code extensions including:
We recommend installing theSpring Boot Extension Pack that includes all of the extensions above.
If you run into any issues when using the features below, you can contact us byopening an issue.
Prerequisites
To develop a Spring Boot application in Visual Studio Code, you need to install the following:
Install the Extension Pack for Java
Install the Spring Boot Extension Pack
Note: More information about how to get started can be found atGetting Started with Java tutorial.
To help get you started with Java Spring Boot development, you can use theJava Spring profile template that includes useful extensions, settings, and Java Spring Boot code snippets.
Create the project
TheSpring Initializr extension allows you to search for dependencies and generate new Spring Boot projects.
To install, launch VS Code and from the Extensions view (⇧⌘X (Windows, LinuxCtrl+Shift+X)), search forvscode-spring-initializr.
Once you have the extension installed, open theCommand Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, LinuxCtrl+Shift+P)) and typeSpring Initializr to start generating a Maven or Gradle project and then follow the wizard.
Edit the project
TheSpring Initializr extension allows you to add dependencies after generating a new Spring Boot project.
Navigate to yourpom.xml file and right-click to selectAdd starters.... A dropdown will show the dependencies you already have beginning with a√ . You can search for other dependencies you want to add to your project. Or you can click on the existing dependencies to remove them.
Develop the application
TheSpring Boot Tools extension includes rich language support for working with Spring Bootapplication.properties,application.yml, and.java files.
The extension supports the following features:
- Quickly navigate to a Spring element in your workspace
- Smart code completion for Spring specific components
- Quick access to running Spring apps
- Live application information
- Code templates
Similar code completion and validation features are also available for.properties and.yml files.
To learn how to use these features, you can visit thisdetailed usage guide.
Below is an example showing live application information.
Run the application
In addition to usingF5 to run your application, there's theSpring Boot Dashboard extension, which lets you view and manage all available Spring Boot projects in your workspace as well as quickly start, stop, or debug your project.
Next steps
- Java Spring profile template - Create a newprofile with a curated set of extensions, settings, and snippets.
- To deploy your web app, seeJava Web Apps with VS Code.
- To containerize a web app and deploy as a Docker container, check outDocker in VS Code.
- To learn more about Java debugging features, seeRunning and debugging Java.