Spring framework is one of the most famous structures in the Java world, which used to develop Java applications, both core Java and web application. It is also one of the most job-oriented skills for Java developers; hence many beginners and intermediate Java programmers try to learn the Spring framework on their own. Though there are some excellent Spring training courses available online, books are still the most popular and preferred way to learn Spring frameworks like Spring core, Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Batch, or Spring Security. I often receive queries for Spring book recommendations e.g., which Spring book is suitable for beginners, or which Spring book is good for intermediate and advanced developers, which book should I read to learn Spring boot, Spring Cloud, Spring Batch, or Spring security, etc.?
In this article, I have tried to answer those questions by recommending some of the best Spring frameworks related to books currently available in the market. The list is not very different from my earlier list of recommended books in Spring, but I have made some changes to include an updated version of books that covers the latest versions of the Spring framework, the latest Spring 5.
I have also included books to learn Spring batch, Spring Boot, and Spring Security along with Spring core and Spring MVC. So, now the list is more complete, relevant, and covers most of the Spring ecosystem.
As I told you before, the Spring framework is the most popular framework or library used in the Java world. It is also the most sought-after skill among Java Web developers. Though limiting Spring to web developers will not do justice to its capability and importance in the Java world.
It is quite as popular in the core Java world as it is for web development, but it was Spring MVC, which initially make Spring framework famous by providing an MVC platform to develop Java web application, but the actual difference was made by Spring's dependency Injection idea.
There was a popular MVC framework available when Spring first came into the scene around 2004-05, Struts was the leading web framework at that time, but the simple idea that you don't need to create an object and manage dependency helps Spring big time. It not only simplifies the code but also promoted good coding practice, which results in better software.
Btw, if you are just starting with Spring and want to learn the latest version of Spring 5 in a more interactive way, I also suggest you join a comprehensive online Spring course like Spring Framework 6: Beginner to Guru, along with the following one of these books. This provides the best of both worlds, and you will learn quickly and learn better.
I myself read the older version of Spring in Action to learn the Spring framework. The best part of the book is that it is now updated to cover Spring 5, so you must buy the latest edition of the Spring in Action, which is the 5th Edition.
This book will teach you everything about Spring core and Spring MVC. You will learn the fundamentals and principles of the Spring framework like DI and IOC, wiring beans, aspect-oriented programming in Spring.
You will also learn Spring MVC like developing Java web applications using Spring MVC, rendering web views, advanced Spring MVC, working with Spring flow, and how to secure web applications.
The book also covers Spring's support for JDBC, messaging, remote method invocation, sending emails using Spring, Web Socket, JMX, and how you can simply Spring development with Spring Boot. If you want, you can also combine this book, along with the Spring Boot 3, Spring 6 & Hibernate for Beginners course by Chat Darby on Udemy to learn better and quicker.
In this article, I have tried to answer those questions by recommending some of the best Spring frameworks related to books currently available in the market. The list is not very different from my earlier list of recommended books in Spring, but I have made some changes to include an updated version of books that covers the latest versions of the Spring framework, the latest Spring 5.
I have also included books to learn Spring batch, Spring Boot, and Spring Security along with Spring core and Spring MVC. So, now the list is more complete, relevant, and covers most of the Spring ecosystem.
As I told you before, the Spring framework is the most popular framework or library used in the Java world. It is also the most sought-after skill among Java Web developers. Though limiting Spring to web developers will not do justice to its capability and importance in the Java world.
It is quite as popular in the core Java world as it is for web development, but it was Spring MVC, which initially make Spring framework famous by providing an MVC platform to develop Java web application, but the actual difference was made by Spring's dependency Injection idea.
There was a popular MVC framework available when Spring first came into the scene around 2004-05, Struts was the leading web framework at that time, but the simple idea that you don't need to create an object and manage dependency helps Spring big time. It not only simplifies the code but also promoted good coding practice, which results in better software.
Btw, if you are just starting with Spring and want to learn the latest version of Spring 5 in a more interactive way, I also suggest you join a comprehensive online Spring course like Spring Framework 6: Beginner to Guru, along with the following one of these books. This provides the best of both worlds, and you will learn quickly and learn better.
6 Best Spring Framework Books for Java Developers
Since most Java developers know that Spring is an important skill, the next step for them is how to learn the Spring framework and how to become a star developer by fully utilizing Spring's capability.1. Spring in Action (6th Edition) by Craig Walls
This is THE Spring book that most of Java developer read and has read in the past to learn the Spring framework. The author Craig Walls is one of the project lead in the Spring Social project lead and frequently speaks at local user groups and conferences about Spring.I myself read the older version of Spring in Action to learn the Spring framework. The best part of the book is that it is now updated to cover Spring 5, so you must buy the latest edition of the Spring in Action, which is the 5th Edition.
This book will teach you everything about Spring core and Spring MVC. You will learn the fundamentals and principles of the Spring framework like DI and IOC, wiring beans, aspect-oriented programming in Spring.
You will also learn Spring MVC like developing Java web applications using Spring MVC, rendering web views, advanced Spring MVC, working with Spring flow, and how to secure web applications.
The book also covers Spring's support for JDBC, messaging, remote method invocation, sending emails using Spring, Web Socket, JMX, and how you can simply Spring development with Spring Boot. If you want, you can also combine this book, along with the Spring Boot 3, Spring 6 & Hibernate for Beginners course by Chat Darby on Udemy to learn better and quicker.
In short, this is the best Spring framework book that will teach you the latest features, tools, and practices, including Spring MVC, REST, Security, Web Flow, and more. If you want to read just one book on Spring, this should be it.
2. Getting Started with Spring framework 3rd edition
This is another one of the best books to learn about the Spring framework. It is a little late entrant on Spring world, but both authors J. Sharma and Ashish Sarin have done a wonderful job of keeping the book updated and relevant even today.The latest edition, the 3rd one is updated to cover Spring 4.3 and Java 8. So, it is one of the rare books which includes Spring with Java 8.
The book is full of examples, containing almost 74 sample projects and the best part of the book is that it shows you how to develop a full-scale Spring application step by step by demonstrating how to develop a simple internet banking application in Java incrementally in each chapter.
This is an excellent example, and quite close to real-world experience, you will get by actually working for any company which uses Spring to develop Java applications.
It covers almost everything with Spring core and Spring MVC but doesn't touch on Spring Batch or Spring boot, which makes sense because they are not part of the core Spring framework.
It also teaches you how to configure Spring using Java configuration, using annotation for dependency injection, SpEL (Spring expression language), caching using Spring's cache abstraction, sending and receiving emails, and JSM messages using Spring, aspect-oriented programming, etc.
It also teaches you how to configure Spring using Java configuration, using annotation for dependency injection, SpEL (Spring expression language), caching using Spring's cache abstraction, sending and receiving emails, and JSM messages using Spring, aspect-oriented programming, etc.
Along with that, you can also learn task scheduling, database interaction using JDBC in Spring, programmatic and declarative transaction management, Spring Data, Spring MVC, Spring Security, and also teach how to develop RESTful Web Services using Spring.
In short, certainly one of the best and most complete books on the Spring framework, much recommended to Java developers, both beginners and intermediate.
3. Spring Boot in Action
This is another great book by Craig Walls, which will help you to learn the Spring framework faster. The initial trouble with Spring was so much configuration, and you often get lost on that until you have someone who can help you with those nasty configurations, particularly the XML ones.The Spring boot made developing Spring application a lot easier; hence it makes learning Spring simpler.
Spring Boot in Action is a useful guide on writing Java applications using Spring Boot. It will teach you how to avoid tedious configuration to focus more on application development rather than dealing with framework nuisance.
The book will also teach you testing with Spring Boot, which is a very important concept. You can also combine this book with a comprehensive Spring Boot course like The Complete Spring Boot Development Bootcamp by Jose Portilla and Rayan Slim on Udemy.
4. Spring Batch in Action
If you have worked on enterprise Java applications like Trading GUIs or E-commerce projects, you know how important and common it is to run batch applications. Even though batch jobs are so common, there were no standard ways to develop them, Spring batch filled that gap.It provides a reusable component and a solid runtime environment to write batch jobs. Since it uses Spring's popular and well-known programming model to simplify configuration and implementation, comfortable for many Java developers.
The Spring Batch in action book provides you everything you need to write batch jobs. It's an in-depth guide to the Spring Batch project. It teaches you how to monitor, tune, and test batch jobs with lots of practical examples.
5. Spring Security in Action
One of the things any Java developer really likes to improve is their understanding of security in the web application. I have interviewed so many experienced developers not knowing much about common security exploits like SQL injection, Cross-site scripting, session hijacking, etc.If you are a Java developer who is familiar with Spring and you are looking to explore its security features, then this book is for you. Created by Laurentiu Spilca, this is the most up-to-date course on Spring Security and also covers OAuth2 and JWT.
All beginners and experienced Java developers will benefit from this Spring Security Essentials since it explores both the theory and practical usage in detail.
You can also benefit a lot from reading this book and joining one of the comprehensive Spring Security training courses from Eugen Paraschiv or online portals like Udemy or Pluralsight.
You can also benefit a lot from reading this book and joining one of the comprehensive Spring Security training courses from Eugen Paraschiv or online portals like Udemy or Pluralsight.
Good knowledge of Security also gives you an edge when you go for a Job interview, so I highly recommend improving your knowledge and understanding of web security and how to implement those using the Spring Security framework in Java.
Obviously, you have to code, and you have to talk to people who are using it already, but before you do, you must know some fundamentals, and there these Spring framework books will help you there.
Once you learn the fundamentals, you can take advanced Spring training courses like REST with Spring or the Learn Spring Security courses to learn more practical skills and get some hands-on practice.
"Spring Start Here" by Laurentiu Spilca is a comprehensive and hands-on guide designed to help Java developers quickly master the expansive Spring ecosystem. With a high rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars from 51 reviews, this book focuses on core concepts essential for building applications using the Spring framework. Obviously, you have to code, and you have to talk to people who are using it already, but before you do, you must know some fundamentals, and there these Spring framework books will help you there.
Once you learn the fundamentals, you can take advanced Spring training courses like REST with Spring or the Learn Spring Security courses to learn more practical skills and get some hands-on practice.
6. Spring Start Here: Learn what you need and learn it well
The author Laurentiu Spilca, is a skilled Java and Spring developer with experience as a technology instructor. He provides a practical and concise approach, teaching readers how to build web applications, manage application objects with Spring context, implement data persistence, exchange data using REST services, and leverage Spring Boot's convention-over-configuration approach.
The book emphasizes minimizing repetition and manual work, guiding readers through the fundamentals and implementation details, including aspects of Spring AOP. With an informative table of contents, it covers topics such as Spring Boot, Spring MVC, web scopes, REST services, data sources, transactions, and Spring Data.
The book is suitable for readers with beginning to intermediate Java skills and aims to provide a solid foundation for exploring the rich ecosystem of Spring. Purchasing the print book also includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats.
Whether you are refactoring an existing application or securing projects with Spring Security, "Spring Start Here" is a valuable resource for those embarking on their journey to master the Spring and if you need a course to go along with this book, then you can check Master Spring Boot 3 & Spring Framework 6 with Java by In28Minutes on Udemy.
That's all about some of the best books to learn Spring framework, Spring MVC, and Spring Security. As I said, Spring is a very important skill for a Java developer, more for a Java web developer, and it gives you more job opportunities in the application development space. It also helps in your current job because you can deliver your solutions more easily and quickly, and can maintain and support them better.
Other Java and Spring Articles you may like
- 15 Spring Boot Interview Questions for Java Developers (questions)
- Top 5 Courses to Learn and Master Spring Cloud (courses)
- 5 Free Courses to Learn Spring Framework in depth(free courses)
- 5 Courses to Learn Spring Security in depth (courses)
- Top 5 Spring Boot Annotations Java Developers should know (read)
- The Complete Java Developer RoadMap (article)
- 10 Advanced Spring Boot Courses for Java developers (courses)
- How Spring MVC framework Works Internally (article)
- 5 Spring Books Experienced Java Developer Should Read (books)
- Top 5 Frameworks Java Developer Should Know (frameworks)
- Top 5 Spring and Hibernate training courses. (courses)
- How to Crack Spring 5.0 Developer Certification (guide)
- 10 Courses to learn Microservices in Java with Spring (courses)
- How HTTP Basic Authentication works in Spring Security (article)
P. S. - Books are also great for self-learning, but if you are someone who learns more from an online course or training, then you can also take a look at the Learn Spring: The Master Class course by Eugen Paraschiv of Baeldung. One of the better courses to learn Spring 65and Spring Boot 6 from scratch, in a guided, code-focused way.
I have read Spring in Action multiple times and I really loved the book, in this list Spring start here is new for me, I am going to try that one as well.
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