spring MVC sample web app

Question

I'm looking for an example Spring MVC 2.5 web app that I can easily:

• Setup as a project in Eclipse
• Deploy to a local app server (using Ant/Maven)

There are a couple of example applications included with the Spring distribution ('petclinic' and 'jpetstore'), but they don't provide any Eclipse project files (or a way to generate them). They also seem a bit complicated for my needs, e.g. require a local database to be setup.

Answer 1

The easiest way to get up and running with a Spring MVC project is to use SpringSource Tool Suite, which is another free IDE based on Eclipse.

The integration between the IDE and Spring/Maven is tight, and it comes with an application server already setup for you to deploy your web app.

Follow these steps to get a working Spring MVC web app.

1. To setup a new project in STS: Click File -> New -> Spring Template Project -> Spring MVC Project
2. To pull in dependencies and compile your project: Right click your new project -> Run As -> Maven install
3. To run your project inside an application server: Right click your new project -> Run As -> Run on Server -> SpringSource tc Server

If it works, you'll see a web page saying "Congratulations! You're running Spring!"

Answer 2

While not specifically an app you can download, Developing a Spring Framework MVC application step-by-step covers creating a spring application in Eclipse with an ant build script, complete with unit tests.

This meets the following requirements:

• Spring MVC 2.5
• Project in Eclipse
• Deploy to a local app server using Ant
• Uses HSQL (no need to install a local DB)

Answer 3

There's a Maven archetype (template project structure) for Spring MVC here:

http://docs.codehaus.org/display/MAVENUSER/Archetypes+List

That's a good starting place for this kind of investigation. To create an archetype using Maven, first install Maven:

http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-install-plugin/

and then create a project using the archetype:

http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-archetypes.html

You can also use the m2eclipse plugin for Eclipse to simplify this and it takes you through the stages of the project using a wizard. Just right click -> New Project -> Other, Maven and select the archetype. Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Just spotted http://blog.springsource.com/2010/07/22/spring-mvc-3-showcase/ which could be interessting for you.

Answer 5

To generate Eclipse project files: Use mvn eclipse:eclipse before importing the project into your workspace. This will create all required configuration files and hook your project up with all the required dependencies.

The mvc-basic and mvc-ajax sample projects in spring-samples (SVN URL: https://src.springframework.org/svn/spring-samples) are simple projects that do not need any local database support.