CRUD Restful Web Service Example with Spring Boot

Objective of Example
Create Spring Boot project
Configure pom.xml
Code of application
Run the application

1. Objective of Example

This document is based on:

Spring Boot 2.x
Eclipse 4.7 Oxygen

See more:
What are RESTful Web Services?

In this post, I will show you how to create a Restful Web Service application using Spring Boot and having the 4 functions of Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD).

Read (GET method)

We will build an URI that is assigned to return the user an employee list and defines another URI that returns the user the information of a particular employee. The data that the user will be received is in XML or JSON format. These URIs only accept the requests with GET method.

GET http://localhost:8080/employees
GET http://localhost:8080/employee/E01

Update (PUT method).

Build an URI to process the request for changing an employee's information. This URI accepts only the requests with PUT method. The data attached with the request is the new information of the employee, which is in XML or JSON format.

PUT http://localhost:8080/employee

Create (POST method)

Build a URI to handle the request for creating an employee. This URI accepts only the requests with the POST method. The data attached to the request is the information of the employee to be created. It is in XML format or JSON format.

POST http://localhost:8080/employee

Delete (DELETE method).

Build an URI to handle the request for deleting an employee. This URI accepts only the requests with the DELETE method.

Note: No data is enclosed with the request in this case (Like the data attached with POST method), because the request with DELETE method can not be attached with data. The employee's information to be deleted will be located on the URI or the QueryString of the URL.

DELETE http://localhost:8080/employee/{empNo}

2. Create Spring Boot project

Install Spring Tool Suite for Eclipse

On the Eclipse, select:

File/New/Other..

Enter:

Name: SpringBootCrudRestful
Group: org.o7planning
Package: org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful

In the next step, you need to select the technologies to be used.

OK, the Project has been created.

3. Configure pom.xml

In this example, we need to a library to convert the XML object into a Java one and vice versa and another library to convert JSON into Java and vice versa.

JSON <==> Java

The spring-boot-starter-web has built in jackson-databind, which helps to convert JSON into Java object and vice versa.

XML <==> Java

The Spring Boot uses JAXB (available in JDK) as a default library to convert XML and Java. However, Java classes need to be annotated by @XmlRootElement,... Therefore, my advice is that you should use the jackson-dataformat-xml as a library to convert XML and Java. To use the jackson-dataformat-xml, you need to declare it in the pom.xml file:

** pom.xml **

...

<dependencies>

        ...
    
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
        <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-xml</artifactId>
    </dependency>

    ...

</dependencies>

...

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0
                        http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>org.o7planning</groupId>
    <artifactId>SpringBootCrudRestful</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>jar</packaging>

    <name>SpringBootCrudRestful</name>
    <description>Spring Boot + Restful</description>

    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>2.0.0.RELEASE</version>
        <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>

    <properties>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
        <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
        <java.version>1.8</java.version>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
            <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-xml</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

4. Code of application

SpringBootCrudRestfulApplication.java

package org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication
public class SpringBootCrudRestfulApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(SpringBootCrudRestfulApplication.class, args);
    }
}

Employee class represents for an employee.

Employee.java

package org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful.model;

public class Employee {

    private String empNo;
    private String empName;
    private String position;

    public Employee() {

    }

    public Employee(String empNo, String empName, String position) {
        this.empNo = empNo;
        this.empName = empName;
        this.position = position;
    }

    public String getEmpNo() {
        return empNo;
    }

    public void setEmpNo(String empNo) {
        this.empNo = empNo;
    }

    public String getEmpName() {
        return empName;
    }

    public void setEmpName(String empName) {
        this.empName = empName;
    }

    public String getPosition() {
        return position;
    }

    public void setPosition(String position) {
        this.position = position;
    }

}

The EmployeeDAO class is annotated by @Repository to notify to the Spring that it is a Spring BEAN. This class includes the methods helping query a list of employees, create employees, update employee's information, and delete employees.

EmployeeDAO.java

package org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful.dao;
 

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

import org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful.model.Employee;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;

@Repository
public class EmployeeDAO {

    private static final Map<String, Employee> empMap = new HashMap<String, Employee>();

    static {
        initEmps();
    }

    private static void initEmps() {
        Employee emp1 = new Employee("E01", "Smith", "Clerk");
        Employee emp2 = new Employee("E02", "Allen", "Salesman");
        Employee emp3 = new Employee("E03", "Jones", "Manager");

        empMap.put(emp1.getEmpNo(), emp1);
        empMap.put(emp2.getEmpNo(), emp2);
        empMap.put(emp3.getEmpNo(), emp3);
    }

    public Employee getEmployee(String empNo) {
        return empMap.get(empNo);
    }

    public Employee addEmployee(Employee emp) {
        empMap.put(emp.getEmpNo(), emp);
        return emp;
    }

    public Employee updateEmployee(Employee emp) {
        empMap.put(emp.getEmpNo(), emp);
        return emp;
    }

    public void deleteEmployee(String empNo) {
        empMap.remove(empNo);
    }

    public List<Employee> getAllEmployees() {
        Collection<Employee> c = empMap.values();
        List<Employee> list = new ArrayList<Employee>();
        list.addAll(c);
        return list;
    }

}

The MainRESTController class is annotated by @RestController to inform to the Spring that it is a Spring Restful Controller,

MainRESTController.java

package org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful.controller;

import java.util.List;

import org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful.dao.EmployeeDAO;
import org.o7planning.sbcrudrestful.model.Employee;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PathVariable;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

@RestController

public class MainRESTController {

    @Autowired
    private EmployeeDAO employeeDAO;

    @RequestMapping("/")
    @ResponseBody
    public String welcome() {
        return "Welcome to RestTemplate Example.";
    }

    // URL:
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employees
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employees.xml
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employees.json
    @RequestMapping(value = "/employees", //
            method = RequestMethod.GET, //
            produces = { MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, //
                    MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE })
    @ResponseBody
    public List<Employee> getEmployees() {
        List<Employee> list = employeeDAO.getAllEmployees();
        return list;
    }

    // URL:
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee/{empNo}
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee/{empNo}.xml
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee/{empNo}.json
    @RequestMapping(value = "/employee/{empNo}", //
            method = RequestMethod.GET, //
            produces = { MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, //
                    MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE })
    @ResponseBody
    public Employee getEmployee(@PathVariable("empNo") String empNo) {
        return employeeDAO.getEmployee(empNo);
    }

    // URL:
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee.xml
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee.json

    @RequestMapping(value = "/employee", //
            method = RequestMethod.POST, //
            produces = { MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, //
                    MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE })
    @ResponseBody
    public Employee addEmployee(@RequestBody Employee emp) {

        System.out.println("(Service Side) Creating employee: " + emp.getEmpNo());

        return employeeDAO.addEmployee(emp);
    }

    // URL:
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee.xml
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee.json
    @RequestMapping(value = "/employee", //
            method = RequestMethod.PUT, //
            produces = { MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, //
                    MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE })
    @ResponseBody
    public Employee updateEmployee(@RequestBody Employee emp) {

        System.out.println("(Service Side) Editing employee: " + emp.getEmpNo());

        return employeeDAO.updateEmployee(emp);
    }

    // URL:
    // http://localhost:8080/SomeContextPath/employee/{empNo}
    @RequestMapping(value = "/employee/{empNo}", //
            method = RequestMethod.DELETE, //
            produces = { MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE })
    @ResponseBody
    public void deleteEmployee(@PathVariable("empNo") String empNo) {

        System.out.println("(Service Side) Deleting employee: " + empNo);

        employeeDAO.deleteEmployee(empNo);
    }

}

Explanation:

produces = { MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE }
produces = { "application/json" , "application/xml" }

produces attribute is used to specify an URL that will only create (return to the user) the data in which format, for example, "application / json", "application / xml".

5. Run the application

To run the application, right click on the Project, select:

Run As/Spring Boot App

After running the application, you can test its functions.

Test GET:

If ERROR==> Please use Spring Boot 2.0.0.M5 temporarily.(And wait for the official version of Spring Boot 2).
<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>2.0.0.M5</version>
    <relativePath/> 
</parent>

To take the list of employees, the user need to send a request with GET method. It can be easy for you to test this function by using a browser.

http://localhost:8080/employees

Or:

How to create a request using the POST, PUT, or DELETE methods?
To create a request with the POST, PUT or DELETE methods, you have to use a tool, for example, RestClient, cURL,.. or write your own Rest Client .
See more:
RESTClient A Debugger for RESTful Web Services
Spring Boot Restful Client with RestTemplate
Secure Spring Boot RESTful Service using Basic Authentication

Test POST

To create an employee, you need to create a request with the POST method and attach it to the information of the employee to be created. The data sent will be inJSON format or XML format:

POST http://localhost:8080/employee
Acept: application/xml

<Employee>
    <empNo>E11</empNo>
    <empName>New Employee</empName>
    <position>Clerk</position>
</Employee>

POST http://localhost:8080/employee
Acept: application/json

{"empNo":"E11","empName":"New Employee","position":"Clerk"}

CRUD Restful Web Service Example with Spring Boot

1. Objective of Example

Spring Boot 2.x

Eclipse 4.7 Oxygen

2. Create Spring Boot project

3. Configure pom.xml

4. Code of application

5. Run the application

Java Web Services Tutorials

Spring Boot Tutorials

Java Web Services Tutorials

Spring Boot Tutorials

Newest Articles