SpringBoot: DevTools basics

Spring Boot DevTools

·         Dependency is spring-boot-devtools

·         Caching is by default disabled in dev environments, as this helps developer to identify the issues due to property/data changes quickly

·         Logging: For web applications, if you want log all incoming requests, which handler is processing it, the response outcome, etc., then turn on spring.mvc.log-request-details

·         Restart: Applications that use devtools will automatically restart once file on classpath changes

·         Restart Technology of Spring Boot is

o   Application files are loaded in restart classloader

o   File that do not change like thirdparty jar files are loaded in base classloader

o   When application is restarted, only restart classloader is re-created, much faster

·         Trigger File: if you do not want restarts on each file change use trigger file spring.devtools.restart.trigger-file. Any update to a file will trigger a check, restart will only occur if devtools has detected change in trigger file

·         Live Reload: Devtools includes embedded LiveReload server, so that if there is change in file browser will refresh automatically. You can disable it by setting spring.devtools.livereload.enabled property to false

·         Profiles: Profiles are not supported in devtools properties/yaml files

·         Remote Support: Devtools remote support is available using spring.devtools.remote.secret property, but considering security risk, should only be used in trusted network or with SSL, should not be used in prod env