How to start Java and Spring Boot in 2025 - Complete Guide

Hey fellow developers! 👋 Today, I want to share my personal journey of mastering Java and Spring Boot, including some crucial pivots I made along the way that made all the difference.

The Challenge I Faced 🤔

Even with years of development experience, jumping into the Spring ecosystem felt like drinking from a firehose. Terms like "Repository," "POJO," "Dependency Injection" were being thrown around, and I found myself getting overwhelmed quickly! Following are the resources helped me.

My Learning Journey: The Reality Check 🗺️

Phase 1: Java Foundations

First things first – I needed to brush up on my Java:

1. "Head First Java" by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
   • Game-changer for visual learners like me
   • Made complex concepts digestible
   • Those funny illustrations? They actually work!
2. Telusko Java Tutorial on YouTube
   • Link: Java Tutorial for Beginners
   • Pro tip: I watched it in 2x speed to refresh my Java knowledge
   • Perfect during commutes or lunch breaks

Phase 2: The Spring Boot Journey (This is where it gets interesting!)

Here's where I hit my first roadblock and made a crucial pivot. Initially, I jumped straight into "Spring in Action," but quickly realized I needed to take a step back.

1. "Spring Boot: Up and Running" by Mark Heckler
   • THIS WAS THE GAME-CHANGER!
   • Finally, someone explained what a Repository actually is! 🙌
   • Breaks down Spring terminology in plain English
   • Perfect bridge between Java and Spring Boot
   • Real "aha!" moments with basic Spring concepts
2. Udemy Course: "Spring Boot 3, Spring 6 & Hibernate for Beginners" by Chad Darby
   • Followed this alongside reading
   • Practical, hands-on approach
   • Great for reinforcing concepts from the book
3. "Spring in Action" by Craig Walls (6th Edition)
   • Here's where I made a crucial realization: this book made SO much more sense after "Spring Boot: Up and Running"
   • Great for deepening knowledge
   • Better appreciated the advanced concepts
   • Used more as a reference initially

The Plot Twist: Udacity Nanodegree 🎓

Here's where my journey took an unexpected turn. After some time with books, I craved more hands-on experience. So I:

• Paused the theoretical learning
• Jumped into Udacity's Java Web Developer Nanodegree
• Focused on practical project implementation
• Here, all the things I learned from books helped me solidify my learning.

Important Note: You might not need the Nanodegree if you're comfortable with the previous resources. I needed it for structured project experience, but your mileage may vary!

The Pragmatic Approach: Learning What Matters 💡

Here's the most valuable lesson from my journey: Focus on what your organization actually uses. In my case:

• Skipped deep dive into JPA (we use direct SQL queries)
• Focused heavily on JDBC implementation
• Learned core-concepts and rest APIs thoroughly (critical for our apps)

Reality Check: Bridge Jumping Strategy 🌉

I call my approach the "bridge jumping strategy":

1. Identify what you actually need at the moment
2. Learn those components deeply
3. Bookmark others for future reference
4. Learn additional components as needed

What This Meant in Practice 🛠️

if (technologyUsedInOrg) {
    learnDeeply();
} else if (mightNeedLater) {
    bookmarkForFuture();
} else {
    skipForNow();
}

if (technologyUsedInOrg) {
    learnDeeply();
} else if (mightNeedLater) {
    bookmarkForFuture();
} else {
    skipForNow();
}

The Results 🚀

After this structured approach:

• Clear understanding of Spring terminology
• Confidence in building Spring Boot applications
• Ability to read and understand Spring documentation
• Successfully completed 5 real-world projects

Final Thoughts

Remember, it's okay to take a step back and build a proper foundation. Spring Boot is powerful, but you don't have to learn everything at once. Start with the basics, understand the terminology, and gradually build up to more complex concepts.

☕