Spring Office Hours S5E03 - Getting Started with Spring
Jan 28, 2026
Foundational setup for getting started with the Spring ecosystem. Practical choices like Java versions, Maven vs Gradle, and using Spring Boot and start.spring. Discussion of why frameworks like Spring exist, core patterns such as dependency injection, and where Spring fits beyond web apps. Advice on learning paths, using AI as a pair, and contributing to open source.
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Episode notes
Use Frameworks To Stop Repeating Work
- Choose a framework to stop reimplementing recurring patterns and focus on business logic.
- Use Spring to provide portable abstractions and handle cross-cutting concerns like logging and observability.
Climb The Abstraction Ladder
- Climb abstraction layers: learn low-level pain before using higher abstractions effectively.
- Pick a lane (web, data, AI) and build a focused Spring app to learn relevant integrations.
Use AI As Pair Programmer, Not Bootstraper
- Start projects on start.spring and avoid asking AI to bootstrap your project blindly.
- Use AI as a pair programmer to unblock tasks but build the core yourself to learn.
