IDEs for Spring Boot Development
IntelliJ IDEA / Spring Tool Suite (STS) / Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) helps developers write, run, debug, and manage Spring Boot applications easily. A good IDE reduces errors, saves time, and improves productivity by providing features like code completion, debugging, and easy project setup.
Spring Boot works with many IDEs, but the most popular and widely used ones are:
- IntelliJ IDEA
- Spring Tool Suite (STS)
- Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
1. IntelliJ IDEA (Most Popular Choice)
IntelliJ IDEA is the most widely used IDE for Java and Spring Boot development in the industry.
Why IntelliJ IDEA is Best for Spring Boot
- Excellent support for Spring Boot & Spring MVC
- Very smart code auto-completion
- Built-in Maven & Gradle support
- Easy Run / Debug Spring Boot applications
- Visual view of beans, endpoints, and configurations
- Strong refactoring and debugging tools
Editions
| Edition | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Community (Free) | Beginners, basic Spring Boot projects |
| Ultimate (Paid) | Enterprise apps, databases, microservices |
👉 Recommendation:
- Beginners → Community Edition
- Professionals → Ultimate Edition
Run Spring Boot in IntelliJ
- Right-click on
mainclass → Run - Or click the ▶ Run button
2. Spring Tool Suite (STS) – Spring Official IDE
Spring Tool Suite (STS) is an Eclipse-based IDE maintained by the Spring team.
Why Use STS
- Built specifically for Spring & Spring Boot
- Built-in Spring Initializr
- Spring Boot Dashboard
- Visual support for:
- Beans
- Properties
- Dependencies
Best For
- Beginners learning Spring
- Developers already familiar with Eclipse
- Projects fully based on Spring ecosystem
Limitations
- Slower compared to IntelliJ
- UI feels outdated for large projects
3. Visual Studio Code (VS Code) – Lightweight & Fast
VS Code is a lightweight editor that becomes powerful for Spring Boot using extensions.
Required Extensions
- Extension Pack for Java
- Spring Boot Extension Pack
- Maven for Java
- Debugger for Java
Why Use VS Code
- Very fast and lightweight
- Excellent for microservices & cloud
- Works well with Docker, Kubernetes, Git
- Great for full-stack developers
Limitations
- Requires manual extension setup
- Less Spring-specific features compared to IntelliJ & STS
IDE Comparison
| Feature | IntelliJ IDEA | STS | VS Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Boot Support | Excellent, industry-leading | Very good, Spring-focused | Good with extensions |
| Performance | Fast and stable | Moderate | Very fast |
| Beginner Friendly | Very easy to start | Easy for Eclipse users | Slight learning curve |
| Free Version | Available | Available | Available |
| Spring Visualization | Best visual support | Good dashboard support | Limited |
| Professional Usage | Most preferred in companies | Less common | Common in cloud teams |
Which IDE Should You Choose?
Beginners (Learning Spring Boot)
👉 IntelliJ IDEA Community or STS
Professional / Enterprise Projects
👉 IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate
Cloud, Microservices, DevOps
👉 VS Code
Basic Requirements (For All IDEs)
Make sure you have:
- JDK 17 or 21 installed
- JAVA_HOME configured
- Maven or Gradle (optional, but recommended)
Conclusion
IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, Spring Tool Suite (STS), and Visual Studio Code make Spring Boot development faster and easier. IntelliJ IDEA provides the best Spring integration, STS is Spring-official and beginner-friendly, while VS Code is lightweight and ideal for cloud-based development. Choosing the right IDE improves learning speed, code quality, and productivity.