we can create a Spring Boot app in 3 main ways:

1. Spring Initializr (Web Client)

Official website:
👉 https://start.spring.io

You choose:

• Project: Maven / Gradle

• Language: Java

• Spring Boot version

• Group

• Artifact

• Dependencies (Web, JPA, etc.)

Then download a ready-made project ZIP.

2. STS (Spring Tool Suite IDE)

STS is Eclipse + Spring plugins.

Inside STS:

File → New → Spring Starter Project

It internally connects to Spring Initializr and generates the project.

3. Spring Boot CLI

Command line tool.

Example:

spring init --dependencies=web myproject

Used less frequently today, mostly for quick prototyping.

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When creating a Spring Boot project, you see fields like:

• Group

• Artifact

• Name

• Package

Artifact = Project Name

In Maven terminology:

Artifact is the name of the project’s build output (JAR file).

Example:

If Artifact = student-app

Your final build file will be:

student-app-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

So artifact represents:

• Project name

• JAR file name

• Unique identifier inside group

Full Maven Identity Structure

Every Maven project is identified by:

GroupId + ArtifactId + Version

Example:

GroupId: com.practice
ArtifactId: student-app
Version: 1.0

Final JAR:

student-app-1.0.jar

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What is Group?

Group usually represents:

• Company

• Organization

• Domain name reversed

Example:

com.google
com.amazon
com.practice

What is Version?

Defines:

• Application version

• Release stage

Example:

1.0.0
0.0.1-SNAPSHOT

How It Connects to pom.xml

Inside pom.xml:

<groupId>com.neha</groupId>
<artifactId>foodapp</artifactId>
<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>

Maven uses this to:

• Build project

• Name jar

• Manage dependencies

When you:

1. Create project using Spring Initializr

2. It generates pom.xml

3. Maven reads group + artifact

4. Builds jar file

5. You run it using:

java -jar foodapp-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar