Core Spring

Overview Learning objectives What you’ll learn Key facts Module listing FAQs What our customers say Get in touch

Course overview

Build the practical Spring Framework skills needed to create robust Java services and web applications in enterprise environments. During the interactive course, you’ll practice configuring Spring applications, handling persistence with Spring Data JPA, building MVC and REST components, applying Spring Security and monitoring with Actuator. The course also helps you prepare for the Spring Professional Developer certification, enabling you to translate your knowledge of the framework into cleaner, safer and more maintainable delivery work.

Core Spring development skills for enterprise applications

Designed for Java developers who need to work confidently on Spring-based applications, this five-day course combines core framework concepts with practical implementation. You’ll learn how to configure applications, develop web and REST components, manage data access and apply security controls using established Spring technologies. The course is suited to developers building on existing Java experience and taking on more complex enterprise development work.

Learning objectives

Configure Spring application components
Use IoC and dependency injection
Apply AOP for cross-cutting logic
Manage persistence with Spring Data JPA
Control transactions in Spring
Create Spring MVC web features
Develop and test REST APIs
Add authentication and authorisation
Configure Spring Boot applications
Monitor services with Actuator

What you’ll learn

Over this five-day live virtual classroom course, you’ll learn how Spring helps Java developers create applications that are easier to configure, test, extend and operate. Through practical development tasks, you’ll learn how core Spring techniques reduces fragile code, supports safer changes and gives developers more control when maintaining systems, adding features and reducing defects.

Spring application foundations

Gain a clear understanding of how Spring organises application components and how configuration choices affect the way services are created, connected and adapted. You’ll learn how this structure supports clearer code relationships, helping you work more confidently with existing applications, avoid fragile dependencies, make safer changes and diagnose configuration issues in Spring projects.

Reliable data handling

Learn how Spring Data JPA helps you manage application data in a cleaner, more consistent way. By reducing repetitive persistence code and clarifying database interaction, you can make data access easier to test, maintain and adapt when business rules change, reducing the risk of defects in areas that often sit at the centre of critical application behaviour.

Web and API delivery

Develop the skills to create web features and APIs that behave predictably for users and connected systems with this course. You’ll learn how Spring supports clear request handling, validation and response design, helping you reduce defects, improve testability and make application behaviour easier to understand when services need to change or integrate with other systems.

Security and application insight

Learn how to control access to Spring applications and understand what is happening once they are running. You’ll explore how security and monitoring features support safer application behaviour, faster issue diagnosis and clearer technical decisions, equipping you with the skills to protect services, identify problems earlier and support applications with greater confidence.

What’s included

Instructor-led training over five-days
Live virtual classroom environment
Hands-on exercises and live labs
All relevant course materials
Course completion certificate

Key facts

Certification

This is a skills and knowledge-based course without formal accreditation.

Who it’s for

This course is for Java developers moving into, or already working on, Spring-based application development.

Prerequisites

You should have a good understanding of Java, including OOP, collections, IO and JDBC. Servlet knowledge may also help.

Exam information

No exam is included, but the course helps you prepare for The Spring Professional Developer exam. Additional exam requirements apply, including 6–12 months’ experience.

Optional extras

There are no optional extras with this course.

Pre-course

No formal pre-course work is required.

Full module listing

Click on each day below to see the breakdown of the modules that you'll cover on the course.

Day one

Day two

Day three

Day four

Day five

Day one

Session 1: INTRODUCTION TO SPRING & IOC

About Spring
Inversion of Control
The Spring IoC Container
Spring Beans
Configuring the container
Instantiating the container and obtaining beans

Session 2: ANNOTATION-BASED CONTAINER CONFIG. & DI

Classpath scanning and managed components
Stereotype annotations
Dependency Injection
Autowiring
Handling multiple candidate dependencies
Java configuration vs. annotations, and mixing

Session 3: MORE CONTAINER CONFIG.

Bean lifecycle and post processors
Acting on a bean's lifecycle events
Specifying the scope of a bean
Composing configurations
Grouping beans into profiles
Externalising properties
Environment abstraction
Spring Expression Language
Shape

Day two

Session 4: AOP

About AOP and proxying
Constructing pointcut expressions
Advising the target object

Session 5: TESTING

Spring integration testing with JUnit
Loading and configuring the container
Setting the active profile(s) and property source(s)

Session 6: TRANSACTION MANAGEMENT

Spring's transaction abstraction
Configuring the data source and transaction manager
Transaction configuration, e.g. propagation and rollback rules
Declarative transaction management
Programmatic transaction management
Choosing between the approaches
Shape

Day three

Session 7: ACCESSING DATA & JDBC

Exception translation
Implementing a DAO using JdbcTemplate
Using callbacks to handle results
Managing data access exceptions

Session 8: MINIMISING CONFIG. WITH SPRING BOOT

Spring Boot: what and why
Starter dependencies
Auto-configuration
Spring Boot annotations
Creating a simple Spring Boot application
Configuration properties
Executing code on startup using CommandLineRunner
Testing in Spring Boot

Session 9: DATA PERSISTENCE WITH SPRING DATA JPA

Creating a Spring JPA app with Spring Boot
ORM, JPA, and Hibernate
Entity mapping
Spring Data repositories
Persisting entities
Writing query methods
Transactionality
Testing a Spring JPA app including @DataJpaTest
Shape

Day four

Session 10: WEB APPS WITH SPRING WEB MVC

Creating a Spring MVC app with Spring Boot
The request processing lifecycle
Building a controller
Handler method parameters
View templates
Testing a Spring MVC app including @WebMvcTest
Configuring a Spring MVC app for deployment

Session 11: REST APIS WITH SPRING WEB MVC

About REST APIs
@ResponseBody, message conversion, and @RestController
@RequestBody and validation
@ResponseStatus and exception handling
Testing a REST API including @WebMvcTest
Using RestTemplate to invoke REST services
Shape

Day five

Session 12: SECURING AN APP WITH SPRING SECURITY

The big picture
Architecture components
Configuring custom authentication
Configuring authorisation for access to endpoints
Configuring authorisation at the method level
Configuring Spring Security

Session 13: SPRING BOOT ACTUATOR

About the Actuator
Exposing endpoints
Writing custom endpoints

FAQs

Build practical Spring Framework capability for professional Java development during this interactive live virtual classroom course. You’ll cover configuration, dependency management, persistence, web and API development, application security and monitoring, with live lab work that helps developers understand how Spring supports maintainable code, safer changes and more reliable application behaviour.

Does this course help with Spring certification?

Yes. The course supports preparation for the Spring Professional Developer certification by covering the Spring technologies and development practices included in the course syllabus. The exam is not included. The certification is aimed at developers with around 6-12 months of hands-on Spring experience, so delegates should check the exam requirements before booking.

Who is this Spring course designed for?

This course is for Java developers who need to work on Spring-based applications or move into projects that use the Spring Framework. It suits developers with existing Java knowledge who want to understand how Spring manages application structure, data access, web behaviour, security and monitoring in real development environments.

Do I need previous Spring experience?

Previous Spring experience is not a requirement, but a good understanding of Java programming is recommended, including object-oriented programming, collections, IO and JDBC. Familiarity with servlets may also be useful, particularly when working through the web application and REST API content.

How is the course delivered?

The course is delivered as five days of live virtual classroom training. You’ll learn through expert-led instruction, practical workshops and hands-on development exercises, giving you the structure of a classroom course while joining remotely from a suitable location.

How will this course help my day-to-day development work?

Spring is often used in complex Java applications where developers need to change code safely, manage dependencies clearly and understand how different parts of an application fit together. This course helps you apply Spring concepts to practical development tasks, supporting cleaner code relationships, more reliable data handling, clearer APIs and better visibility of application behaviour.

Why is the Spring Framework important for Java developers?

Spring is one of the most widely used frameworks for enterprise Java development. It provides tools and frameworks for application configuration, data access, web development, security and monitoring, helping developers build scalable and maintainable applications.

What our customers say

“This is now my second course with TSG Training and once again the delivery was simply excellent. I was a little bit worried coming in that I wouldn't have the requisite knowledge; however, I found that it was just about the perfect level between being able to understand the concepts and stretching the grey matter.”

Ashley, AppOps Engineer (Jr DBA) - Government

“Course was informative and well-paced. Instructor was knowledgeable and explained the concept in a clear and well thought out manner.”

Tony, Programmer/Analyst - Academic

Why study with TSG?

25+ years' experience

Trusted by individuals, businesses and public sector organisations for over 25 years.

20,000+ learners trained

Join a network of learners focused on developing their software testing skills

98% customer satisfaction

TSG trainers are frequently rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ by our learners

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