Top 5 Courses to Learn Spring Framework in Depth in 2020 - Best of Lot

Spring Framework is an essential skill for Java developers, not only to get a job as a Java developer but also for your career advancement. Since Spring is now used in almost every Java project, it becomes virtually mandatory to learn Spring framework. Now, the question comes, what is the best way to learn Spring framework? Are there any online courses out there that are focused on Spring? What are some good books and resources for learning Spring? These questions are widespread among Java developers, and I often see them on forums, online chat channels, and even many of my readers also ask this to me on Facebook chats and email. Well, the best way to learn any technology is by coaching, online courses, and books.

In the past, I have shared some of the best books to learn Spring framework (see here) and some advanced Spring courses for experienced developers (see here), today I am going to share some of the best online courses to learn Spring framework for Java developers- which includes both beginners and intermediate Java developers.

Btw, Spring framework is a suite of technology and depending upon your job, career aspiration and what do you like you may need multiple courses to learn different Spring framework sill, e.g. Core Spring framework which is used in both core Java and Web applications and provides dependency injection and inversion of control.

Then you also have Spring MVC which is the most used technology/framework/pattern for developing Java web application. It provides tools for handling requests, resolving views and you can use to develop both traditional web applications as well as RESTful Web Services with Spring.

Then there is Spring Security, which is probably the most essential skill for any Senior Java developer.

Since Security is the paramount concern for many enterprises and web applications, a good knowledge of Security goes a long way in doing well in an interview and day-to-day job. Spring security provides many tools to implement Security as cross-cutting concerns, e.g. Authorization, Authentication, Role-Based Access Control, LDAP Integration out of the box.

Spring now also has a framework like Spring Boot, which simplifies the development of Java web application using the Spring framework by using Convention over Configuration, the principle which makes Maven super popular. Then there is Spring Data and Spring cloud as well.

Top 5 Courses to Learn Spring Framework in Depth

In this article, I'll share some of the best online courses to learn Spring, Spring MVC, Spring REST, Spring Security, and Spring Boot framework. Most of these courses can be taken online and provided by trusted online training providers like PluralSight, Udemy, etc.

1. Spring Framework 5: Beginner to Guru

This is an excellent introduction to Spring MVC 5 framework. It's an online course of almost 35 hours which will explain what is Spring framework and how you can use it to develop Web applications using Java and Spring.

In this course, you will learn how to build a basic web app, architecture, controllers, views, tags, validation, and Ajax within Spring MVC 5 and the newer Java configuration approach.

It is highly recommended that you should complete this course by end-to-end before starting using Spring 5 in a real project.

2. REST With Spring

If you are developing a RESTful web service and want to use the Spring framework, then this course is for you. Eugen Paraschiv has shared his extensive experience in design RESTful APIs and securing them using Spring Security in this course.

You will also learn about costly mistakes many Java developers do while designing their REST API and tips to avoid them.

3. Spring Security Fundamentals

This is another excellent course on the Spring framework from Bryan Hansen and PluralSight. This course is also 4 hours long, and you will learn the fundamentals of the Spring Security framework.

This course covers will teach you how to develop your first secure application, user storage in memory and in a database, client integration with taglibs, password storage, customizing the UI, method level security as well as method-level permissions, basic LDAP configuration, and forcing connections over HTTPS.

4. Learn Spring Security Certification Class

This is one of the best and most in-depth online course on Spring Security. You will learn everything about Spring Security and how it helps to secure a Java web application.

Eugen has done a great job in explaining both fundamentals, like authentication, authorization, remember me functionality as well as advanced topics, like OAuth, two-factor authentication, Access Control List, and advanced REST API security.

He has recently launched a Certification course, which also contains lots of quizzes and exercises to digest the comprehensive material.

You will also get a certification of completion. This course also allows you to download all the lessons for offline reading.

5. Spring Fundamentals

If you are absolutely new to Spring and want to learn it from scratch, this is the online course you should register and learn. This course covers all of the fundamentals of Spring.

You will learn how to develop Spring-based Java application using Java Configuration, XML Configuration, Annotation based Configuration, Beans and their Scopes, and Properties.

The course available on PluralSight, and you need a membership to view these tutorials, which cost around $29 per month, but you can start with a 10-day free trial , which gives you 200 minutes to access any course.

6. Spring Framework Master Class

This is another comprehensive Spring course. It starts with an introduction to the widely-used Java Spring framework and goes on to explain how to wire together your Java objects using Spring and dependency injection.

You'll also learn how to set up your system for Spring development, how to use Maven, and how to work with databases using Spring and Hibernate and how to create web applications with Spring MVC.

We'll also look at managing user accounts with Spring Security, JDBC, working with web forms, Apache tiles for building modular web pages, aspect-oriented programming (AOP), and using Log4J and JUnit.

It has around 12 hours of lessons and cost about 210$, but you can get it on just $9.99 on Udemy's flash sale, one of the famous and trusted online training and course providers.

That's all about some of the best online courses to learn Spring framework. Eugen's courses are costly as compared to PluralSight or Udemy, but they are worthy of every penny spent. You will learn a lot more, real-world usage of various Spring tools like Spring MVC and Spring Security on those courses.

Btw, if you are someone who likes to learn from books, then please check out my list of best books to learn Spring Framework. If you just need one book, then just go and buy Spring in Action 4th edition, it covers Spring 4 and teaches you how to develop Spring-based Java application using annotations.

Other Java and Spring Resources you may like

The 2020 Java Developer RoadMap

How Spring MVC works internally in Java?

10 Things Java Developer should learn in 2020?

3 Best Practices Java Devs can Learn from Spring

Top 5 Courses to learn Spring Boot in depth

10 Frameworks Java and Web Developer Should learn

10 Tips to become a better Java Programmer in 2020

Top 5 Courses to Learn Spring Boot in 2020

Top 5 Spring Microservice Courses for Java developers

10 Advanced Spring Boot Courses for Java Developers

Top 5 Books to Learn Spring Cloud

15 Spring Boot Interview Questions for Java developers

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these Spring online courses, then please share with your friend and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. - If you are new to Spring Framework and looking for some free online courses to learn Spring framework and things like Spring MVC and Spring Boot, then you can also check out this list of free Spring Courses for Java programmers.