Spring Tool Suite (STS) is a powerful Java IDE specially designed for developing Spring and Spring Boot applications. It is built on top of the Eclipse IDE and provides an easy and efficient environment for enterprise application development. Spring Tools 4 is the latest version that offers enhanced support for modern Spring-based applications.
- Provides built-in support for Spring Framework and Spring Boot development.
- Offers smart code completion, debugging, and project management tools.
Prerequisite
Make sure you have installed Java Development Kit (JDK) version 17 or newer. To check simply go to the terminal and enter the below command to check if it is present or not.
javac -version
Steps to Download and Install Spring Tool Suite (STS)
Follow these steps to install Spring Tool Suite on your system.
Step 1: Visit the Official Spring Tools Website
Go to their website and in Spring Tools 4 for the Eclipse section in order to download. choose your corresponding file according to your OS.
Here we are going with Windows operating systems so do we have chosen Windows option as seen in the below image.
Step 2: Download the STS Installer
After clicking on the button a Jar file will be downloaded to your local system. Now create a folder and move this Jar file to that folder. And double-click on that Jar file. A pop-up window will appear like below:
Step 3: Extract the Downloaded File
Extract or unzip the downloaded file, then open the newly created Spring Tool Suite folder to continue the installation process.
Step 4: Launch Spring Tool Suite
Inside the extracted folder, locate the SpringToolSuite4 application file and Double-click on the application file to start Spring Tool Suite.
Step 5: Select Workspace Location
Now select your directory as workspace by clicking on the Browse button and then click on the Launch button. And you are done.
After successful installation, the Spring Tool Suite IDE home screen will appear.
Advantages of Using Spring Tool Suite
- Built specifically for Spring Framework development
- Provides integrated Spring Boot support
- Offers intelligent code completion and error checking
- Simplifies Maven and Gradle project management
- Based on Eclipse IDE, making it familiar for Java developers
- Free and open-source