Docker Java Example Part 1: Initializing a new Spring Boot Project
Docker Java Example Series
- [Initializing a new Spring Boot Project](http://againstentropy.blogspot.com/2017/07/docker-java-example-part-1-initializing.html)
- [Spring Web MVC Testing](http://againstentropy.blogspot.com/2017/08/docker-java-example-part-2-spring-web.html)
- [Transmode Gradle Plugin](http://againstentropy.blogspot.com/2017/08/docker-java-example-part3-transmode-gradle-plugin.html)
- [Bmuschko and Nebula Gradle Plugins](http://againstentropy.blogspot.com/2017/09/docker-java-example-part-4-bmuschko-nebula-gradle-docker-plugins.html)
- [Kubernetes](https://againstentropy.blogspot.com/2017/09/docker-java-example-part-5-kubernetes.html)
I've been wanting to learn more about Docker for a while. I'm almost done with this udemy course Docker for Java Developers. Its a good course, and the concepts are straightforward. To help me commit it to memory, I wanted to do my own project to apply what I'm learning.
https://github.com/ryanmckaytx/java-docker-example
In this part, I'm just going to initialize a new project. Part 2 covers Spring Web MVC testing.
Set up your dev machine
Every once in a while, like when you switch jobs and get a new laptop, you need to set up a machine for java development.
For this, I like to use [sdkman](http://sdkman.io/). It helps install the tools you need to do java development. It also helps switch between multiple versions of those tools. I've installed java, groovy, gradle, and maven.
``` brush:
$ sdk cUsing:gradle: 4.0groovy: 2.4.11java: 8u131-zulumaven: 3.5.0
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Create a new project
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There are a few good ways to do this. The typical way I do this is to copy another project. Within an organization, or at least within a team, there is typically some amount of infrastructure and institutional knowledge built into existing projects that you want in a new project. But for this project, I wanted to practice starting completely from scratch. There are a couple of good options.
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Gradle init
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I like gradle as a build tool, and gradle has a built in [project initializer](https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/build_init_plugin.html). <span style="text-align: center;">It supports a few project archtypes, including pom (converting a maven project to gradle), java library, and java application. It even explicitly supports spock testing framework.</span>
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``` brush:
$ gradle init --type java-application --test-framework spockBUILD SUCCESSFUL in 0s2 actionable tasks: 2 executed$ tree.|____build.gradle|____gradle| |____wrapper| | |____gradle-wrapper.jar| | |____gradle-wrapper.properties|____gradlew|____gradlew.bat|____settings.gradle|____src| |____main| | |____java| | | |____App.java| |____test| | |____groovy| | | |____AppTest.groovy
You can see it also generates a demo App and AppTest.
Spring Boot Initializr
For Spring Boot apps, Spring provides the [Spring Boot Initializr](https://start.spring.io/). This lets you choose from a curated (but extensive) set of options and dependencies, and then generates a project in a zip file for download. Similarly to gradle init, it includes a default basic app and test.
``` brush:
$ unzip demo.zipArchive: demo.zip creating: demo/ inflating: demo/gradlew creating: demo/gradle/ creating: demo/gradle/wrapper/ creating: demo/src/ creating: demo/src/main/ creating: demo/src/main/java/ creating: demo/src/main/java/net/ creating: demo/src/main/java/net/ryanmckay/ creating: demo/src/main/java/net/ryanmckay/demo/ creating: demo/src/main/resources/ creating: demo/src/main/resources/static/ creating: demo/src/main/resources/templates/ creating: demo/src/test/ creating: demo/src/test/java/ creating: demo/src/test/java/net/ creating: demo/src/test/java/net/ryanmckay/ creating: demo/src/test/java/net/ryanmckay/demo/ inflating: demo/.gitignore inflating: demo/build.gradle inflating: demo/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar inflating: demo/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties inflating: demo/gradlew.bat inflating: demo/src/main/java/net/ryanmckay/demo/DemoApplication.java inflating: demo/src/main/resources/application.properties inflating: demo/src/test/java/net/ryanmckay/demo/DemoApplicationTests.java
```
Pretty much the only thing I don't like here is that the test isn't spock and there doesn't seem to be a way to choose it. Not a big deal, its easy to change afterward. I went with initializr for this project.
JHipster
[JHipster](https://jhipster.github.io/) is an opinionated full-stack project generator for Spring Boot + Angular apps. It has a lot of features that I want to explore later, so for now I stuck with Spring Boot Initializr.