Spring Boot Quick Reference

Analogy categoryAnalogies

Annotations Cheat Sheet

This quick reference collects the annotations and properties you reach for daily so you don't have to search documentation mid-task. @RestController combines @Controller and @ResponseBody so return values are serialized straight to the HTTP response body as JSON via Jackson, while @RequestMapping and its shortcuts (@GetMapping, @PostMapping, @PutMapping, @DeleteMapping, @PatchMapping) map HTTP verbs and paths to handler methods, with @PathVariable extracting URI template segments and @RequestParam extracting query parameters.

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Cricket analogy: Keeping this cheat sheet handy is like a scorer keeping a quick-reference card of extras rules (wide, no-ball, bye) rather than re-reading the entire laws of cricket mid-match.

java

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/v1/orders")
public class OrderController {

    @GetMapping("/{id}")
    public OrderDto getOrder(@PathVariable Long id) { ... }

    @GetMapping
    public List<OrderDto> search(@RequestParam(required = false) String status) { ... }

    @PostMapping
    @ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.CREATED)
    public OrderDto create(@Valid @RequestBody CreateOrderRequest request) { ... }
}

Configuration Properties and Profiles

application.yml (or .properties) holds environment-specific settings, and spring.config.activate.on-profile lets you define profile-specific overrides in the same file using --- document separators, activated at runtime via SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod or --spring.profiles.active=prod. For typed, IDE-autocompleted access to custom properties, @ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "app.mail") on a class annotated @Component (or registered via @EnableConfigurationProperties) binds nested YAML structures directly to Java fields, which is safer and more testable than scattering @Value("${...}") expressions throughout the codebase.

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Cricket analogy: Profile-specific configuration is like a team having different pitch-reading strategies pre-saved for a spin-friendly Chennai pitch versus a pace-friendly Perth pitch, switched based on the venue.

yaml

spring:
  application:
    name: order-service
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/orders
---
spring:
  config:
    activate:
      on-profile: prod
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://prod-db:5432/orders
logging:
  level:
    root: WARN

Actuator Endpoints and Common CLI Commands

spring-boot-starter-actuator exposes operational endpoints under /actuator once enabled and whitelisted via management.endpoints.web.exposure.include; the ones you'll reach for constantly are /actuator/health (liveness/readiness, aggregating custom HealthIndicator beans), /actuator/metrics (JVM, HTTP, and custom Micrometer metrics), /actuator/env (resolved property sources, useful for debugging why a property isn't taking effect), and /actuator/loggers (which lets you change a package's log level at runtime via a POST request without redeploying). On the build side, the Maven wrapper (./mvnw spring-boot:run) or Gradle wrapper (./gradlew bootRun) runs the app locally, ./mvnw clean package produces the deployable JAR, and ./mvnw spring-boot:build-image builds a container image directly.

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Cricket analogy: Actuator endpoints are like a team's live vitals dashboard during a match — heart rate, hydration, sprint speed — giving instant operational insight without stopping play to ask each player individually.

management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health,info,metrics,prometheus is a common baseline; never set it to * in production without also securing Actuator endpoints, since some (like /actuator/env or /actuator/heapdump) can leak secrets or memory contents.

Forgetting to secure Actuator endpoints separately from your main API's security rules is a frequent production incident — by default, once exposed, Actuator endpoints are reachable at the same base URL and port unless you explicitly restrict access with Spring Security rules or a separate management port.

@RestController + @GetMapping/@PostMapping/etc. is the standard combination for JSON REST endpoints.
@PathVariable reads URI template segments; @RequestParam reads query string parameters.
Use --- document separators with spring.config.activate.on-profile for profile-specific YAML overrides.
@ConfigurationProperties gives typed, IDE-friendly binding of nested config, preferable to scattered @Value expressions.
Actuator's /actuator/health, /actuator/metrics, /actuator/env, and /actuator/loggers are the most frequently used endpoints.
./mvnw spring-boot:run / ./gradlew bootRun runs locally; clean package builds the JAR; spring-boot:build-image builds a container.
Never expose all Actuator endpoints (management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=*) in production without separately securing them.