Spring Performance Best Practices

Spring has become one of the most popular application frameworks for Java because it takes an agnostic approach to deployment, lets developers focus on their products instead of nitpicking over code, and integrates easily with most external systems.

With the Spring Framework, you can build infrastructures for a broad range of event-driven products, including microservices and apps, without getting stuck with a specific cloud provider or enterprise system.

Spring projects you need to know

Before you can start building products that match your needs, though, you should learn some of the most important Spring Performance best practices.

You should find that taking a little time to learn about the following topics now will save you time in the long run and help you create more effective tools.

Spring is much more than a Java-based framework for managing apps, messaging, and data. The Spring Project has grown into several sub-projects that you should get to know.

Even a cursory understanding of the different Spring Projects should help you concentrate on options that match your needs. You can’t learn everything, so you might as well acquire basic knowledge of what Spring can do and then focus on the features that matter most to you.

Some of your options include:

• Spring Boot – Spring Boot applications let you get products to market quickly.
• Spring Data – There’s a Spring Data module for practically every SQL, MySQL, and NoSQL database you can think of. Try Spring Data JPA to create repository interfaces.
• Spring Cloud – Save time and prevent errors by using Spring Cloud to manage distributed services across cloud service providers.
• Spring Batch – High-volume batching becomes easier than ever when you rely on Spring Batch’s reusable functions.

While some Spring Performance best practices apply to most Spring projects, you will find that each one has unique features. Get to know them so you can approach every task in the right direction.

If you’re interested in combining the best qualities of Hibernate 5 and Spring Boot 2, read this article.

Take advantage of Spring Boot auto-configuration

Spring Boot has an auto-configuration feature that makes it quick and simple for you to connect to data storage options like Redis and MongoDB.

Don’t worry about trying to write unique dependencies until you have tried auto-configuration. All you need to do is plug in your data storage name and let Spring Booth do the rest.

If you’re connecting to MongoDB, dependencies will look like this:

org.springframework.boot

spring-boot-starter-data-mongodb

When using a different data source, simply replace “mongodb” with the name of your source.

If you ever experience challenges connecting to data sources, you can connect with one of our representatives for help. We have expertise in DB, NoSQL, data management, APIstation, and other options to help you implement Spring Performance best practices.

Standardize a Spring project structure for your needs

Of all the Spring performance best practices, this is potentially the most important one for you to get your whole team to follow.

Every Spring project should follow a common structure that helps everyone on your team (and anyone who might join in the future) find the specific code that they need.

It’s fine to take a modular approach to standardized project structures. That approach often works best because it maintains standards while giving developers enough flexibility to build products and make adjustments that match each project’s unique needs.

Managers can emphasize the importance of standardized structures by sharing a document that shows all of the nested folders and Java files that might appear in a typical project.

For example, you might start with:

Project Name (folder) [boot]

>.mvn (folder)

>settings (folder)

>src (folder)

>main (folder)

>java (folder)

>net (folder)

>guides (folder)

>springboot2 (folder)

>control (folder)

CustomerControl.java

OrderControl.java

>model (folder)

Customer.java

Order.java

Give everyone access to this example (or one that you create) so they can base future projects on it. Over time, you will find that all of your projects conform to a template that helps developers find the specific source code and schemas they need for optimizing any product.

Otherwise, you force employees to waste a lot of time tracking down information buried in a mountain of code.

Make notes of inserts, deletes, and other changes to provide archaeological evidence that future developers can use. It's one of those Spring performance best practices that you should use everywhere.

Additionally, it’s standard practice to include annotations throughout code. Annotations and notes will help future developers understand how your work functions and why you included specific instructions.

You’ve heard this countless times, but it’s so easy to forget. Keep other developers in mind and encourage them to do the same for you.

Start new Spring boot projects with Spring Initializr

Let Spring Initializr do as much of the work for you as possible. It will always follow Spring performance best practices without forcing you to comb through details.

Initializr generates spring boot project with everything that you need to start quickly!

Project initialization doesn’t get much easier than this. It will help you set up everything from API endpoints and REST services to business logic algorithms and security features that match your use case.

Use simple logging facade for Java (SLF4J) Logging Rules

Spring doesn’t require you to use SLF4J as your logging framework. Most professionals consider SLF4J one of their Spring performance best practices, though, because it’s an abstract logging framework that you can migrate to or deploy from, even when you encounter products Java products developed outside of Spring.

By defaulting to SLF4J, you improve the likelihood of backward and forward compatibility no matter how your approach to product development evolves over the years.

It will help you avoid unnecessary object-relational mapping (ORM) between incompatible systems. (Make sure you use @Slf4j when you annotate at the class level.)

If you have a reason that you do not want to use SLF4J, you can feel free to take your own route. Keep in mind, though, that you should still follow a few rules.

Spring performance best practices say not to use:

• Java Util Logging (JUL)
• Apache Commons Logging (JCL)
• Jakarta Commons Logging
• System.out
• System.err

Stay current with Spring’s latest updates

Spring constantly evolves to meet the emerging needs of today’s developers. That means you need to stay current with Spring’s latest updates.

Otherwise, you might discover that yesterday’s Spring performance best practices create performance issues during new projects.

How can you stay current with the most recent version of Spring? It never hurts to check in on Spring’s guides and blog posts.

You should also follow the social media profiles of experts in Spring, Java, and Java Persistence API (JPA). You can’t go wrong by following Anghel Leonard on Twitter. Anghel Leonard has also written several books aimed at the beginner, mid-level, and advanced developers.

Apress publishes more books that you might want to read for details about Spring performance best practices regarding topics such as programming a DTO (data transfer object), optimizing JDBC (Java database connectivity), and creating queries that coordinate with JPQL (Java Persistence Query Language).

Search Apress publications at Springer Link to find new books that cover everything from lazy loading to application properties.

Additionally, check Spring’s GitHub regularly to find repositories for its latest and ongoing projects.

How we can help

As you adopt Spring Boot Persistence best practices and best practices for other elements of Spring, you might encounter challenges that don’t have obvious solutions.

Never hesitate to contact us for assistance about Spring performance best practices. We have professionals with years of experience working with Spring and similar frameworks designed for the Java platform. We give actionable advice that leads to better practices for long-term success.