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Project Setup

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To begin this tutorial, you need a location for your project where you can manage your classes and resources. The following sections describe the different ways you can create your webforJ project for this tutorial.

Using the source code​

The easiest way to follow this tutorial is to refer to its source code. You can download the entire project or clone it from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/webforj/webforj-tutorial.git

Project structure​

The project has five subdirectories, one for each step of the tutorial, and each contains a runnable app. Following along allows you to see how the app progresses from a basic setup to a fully functional customer management system.

webforj-tutorial
│   .gitignore
│   LICENSE
│   README.md
│
├───1-creating-a-basic-app  
├───2-working-with-data
├───3-routing-and-composites
├───4-observers-and-route-parameters
└───5-validating-and-binding-data

Using startforJ​

If you’d prefer to create a new project, you can use startforJ to generate a minimal starter project. See Getting Started for more detailed information about using startforJ.

Required settings
  • In the webforJ version dropdown, choose webforJ version 25.10 or higher.
  • In the Flavor dropdown, choose webforJ + Spring Boot.

Using the command line​

You can also generate a new project with the following command:

mvn -B archetype:generate \
  -DarchetypeGroupId=com.webforj \
  -DarchetypeArtifactId=webforj-archetype-hello-world \
  -DarchetypeVersion=LATEST \
  -DgroupId=com.webforj.tutorial \
  -DartifactId=customer-app \
  -Dversion=1.0-SNAPSHOT \
  -Dflavor=webforj-spring

Configurations​

The two mentioned ways of creating a new project use webforJ archetypes, which automatically add the needed configurations to your project, like Spring dependencies to your POM and the following properties in src/main/resources/application.properties:

spring.application.name=CustomerApplication
server.port=8080
webforj.entry = com.webforj.tutorial.Application
webforj.debug=true

Running the app​

To see the app in action as you progress through the tutorial:

  1. Navigate to the directory for the desired step. This should be the top-level directory for that step, containing the pom.xml.

  2. Use the following Maven command to run the Spring Boot app locally:

    mvn

Running the app automatically opens a new browser at http://localhost:8080.