3 Best Spring Security Online Training Courses for Java Developers

The Spring Security is one of the leading open source, security framework which allows you to implement security in Java based web applications. It provides several security features e.g. authentication, authorization, remember me out-of-the-box, which means you can directly use them without adding code or changing your class. Yes, Spring Security implements security at application level i.e. you can even secure your non-secure resource without modifying them. It is also the leading framework to secure RESTful Web Services. Because of all these, the demand for Java developers with good knowledge of Spring Security is very high. They are also some of the highly paid Java developers. Many Java and Spring developer, particularly those who are involved in enterprise and Java web development are learning Spring Security.

One of the frequently asked question by my readers is about some good courses/training to learn Spring Security. After answering many of them on Facebook, I decided to write this post to share my thoughts on some of the best Spring Security online courses for Java developers.

To be honest, there are not many good courses available to learn Spring Security, especially free resources are hard to find and they are not up-to-mark in most cases. Fortunately, there are some good online training courses to learn Spring Security available e.g. Learn Spring Security by Baeldung, which explains not only Spring Security but the why Security is important on Java web application and how you can implement them in a transparent manner using Spring Security.

There are a couple of more from popular training websites e.g. PluralSight and Udemy, which you will find in this article.

Why Learn About Security?

Security has been always paramount for web applications. It's one of the must have non-functional requirement to prevent business from several kinds of attacks e.g. DOS, SQL injection, Session hijack etc. But the security has become even more important in last few years because of REST APIs becoming mainstream, the introduction of OAuth2, single-page apps, two-factor authentication and a lot of other things.

And the security market is huge, which means there’s no shortage of security work to be done when you know your stuff well.

In 2017, Not having a solid, deep understanding of the current security landscape is no longer an option. As a Senior Java Developer, you should be familiar with security basics and know the tools to secure your Java application.

Why Learn Spring Security?

The Spring Security has been getting better as well with the launch of Spring Security 4 and the new Java configuration style as a solid alternative to XML.Currently, Spring Security is THE learning framework/library to properly and intelligently do security if you're working in Java.

Spring Security offers several out-of-the-box solution e.g. authentication and authorization, securing views using access control, role-based access control and LDAP integration, which is very important for any real-world Java application.

A good knowledge of Spring Security also gives you an edge on the interview, as for many Java developers security is often considered as a second thought.

Learn Spring security by Baeldung

This is simply the best Spring security training course currently available in the market. Eugen Paraschiv's shares his years of experience in securing Java web application and RESTful Web service in this course. The course will teach you both Security and Spring Security fundamentals and give you necessary tool to secure your application using Spring Security.

If you are in hurry and want to learn Spring Security from scratch, this is the course you should join. There are three different classes depending upon your need and budget e.g. the Intermediate class, the Masterclass, and the Coaching class.

The Intermediate Class not only explain basics of Spring security but also goes deeper to explain how to secure your REST API, password storage, and advanced configuration options. This is an ideal course for someone who knows Spring and just wants to get familiar with Spring Security.

On the other hand, The Master Class will teach you more advanced implementations and in-depth knowledge of Spring Security. You will learn things like a complete two-factor authentication solution, a full ACL implementation, Single Sign On, a ground-up OAuth2 + JWT + proxy security for an API, how to deal with various attack vectors - among other things. This is the course I recommend to senior Java developers.

The Coaching Class is master class + support. It gives you the full Master Class material, plus a year of monthly coaching calls with Eugen and access to future webinars and workshops. If you need someone to guide or consult, this is the course for you to join. No doubt, the course is slightly expensive but it's worth of all the money spent. The knowledge you will gain by joining this course is worth much more than what you spend.

Spring Security Fundamentals on PluralSight

This is another good course to learn Spring Security online. It covers all of the fundamentals of Spring Security e.g. user storage in memory and in a database, client integration with tag libs, password storage, customizing the UI, method level security as well as method-level permissions, basic LDAP configuration, and forcing connections over HTTPS. If you are working on a Spring MVC application and want to secure it using Spring Security, this is the course to join.

The course is free if you have a PluralSight membership, which cost around $29/month to 49$/month. You can also try out their free trial to check the quality of course.

Btw, PluralSight membership is worth of money, especially if you have your company pay for it. They contain many Spring online courses as well as many advanced Java technologies e.g. REST, JPA, Hibernate, Spring Security which is worth of the money you spend.

Learn Spring Security 4 Intermediate on Udemy This is an advanced course to learn Spring Security 4 from Udemy, another popular online training website. This is the series of two courses which covers Spring Security 4 in depth. The is the second course of the series, which built on the basic knowledge of first course "Learn Spring Security 4 Basics - Hands On". The best part of the course is that if extensively focus on hands-on training. You can get this course on $10 in Udemy, currently, 89% is off.

That's all about some of the best online courses to learn Spring Security for Java developers. These courses are very good and contain the useful information required to implement security in a real world Java web or enterprise application. Some of them also teach you how to secure your RESTful Web Services using Spring Security. Btw, if you are someone who likes to learn from the books or looking for a good book to learn Spring Security by their own, I suggest reading Pro Spring Security, one of the best books to learn Spring Security.

Further Reading

How to enable Spring Security in Java Application?

How to control the number of Active Session for a User?

5 Books to Learn Spring MVC Framework

Spring MVC Interview Questions

How Spring MVC Framework works internally?

What is the use of DispatcherServlet in Spring MVC?

Thanks for reading this article, If you like these online training courses then please share with your friends and colleagues. If you have any question or feedback then please drop a comment.