In this article, we will be looking at the magic Dev tool adds to our applications/projects. Dev tool is used during the development stage of our spring boot applications. I will be explaining how a Dev tool works in spring-boot and the different features of a Dev tool.

What is a Dev tool?

Dev tool is a set of tools provided by spring boot that gives us a smooth experience while developing any applications in spring boot. Spring provides some features in spring boot such as automatic restart, live reload, remote debugging, and a user-friendly error page to improve the experience of building a project. These tools are available in spring boot to allow applications to run faster and improve productivity. Features of the Dev tool

Let's look at some of the features that are provided by spring. i.e. automatic restart, live reloads, remote debugging, and user-friendly error page.

Automatic restart

The first feature we will be looking at is the automatic restart option, the dev tool enables spring boot to restart itself when any changes are made in the classpath of a project. for instance, if I should change or add any line of code in the MainController.java class of my project, I won't have to stop and start my application all the time, the automatic restart option will do the work.

Live reload

The other feature similar to automatic restart is the Live reload option, this feature work with only static files like HTML, CSS, and javascript. whenever any changes are made to the static file, it reloads the pages without having to rebuild the application. in order for the browser to show the update view we need to install the LiveReload plugin i.e. Remote-Live Reload for Chrome. The image is showing restarted main which means Devtool is restarting the application.

Debugging

Dev tools have another feature called remote debugging, it enables developers to debug the Spring Boot application using an IDE like Eclipse. It helps in identifying and resolving issues by stepping through the code.

User-Friendly Error Page

Dev tool has provided a user-friendly page that displays traces of information whenever an error occurs during development. The error page contains details of the error, including stack traces and response details, with this feature a developer can easily tell where the error is coming from.

How To Implement Dev Tool in Spring Boot Project

Adding a Dev tool in a maven java project is quite easy. When building a maven project, all it requires is to add the dependency in the pom.xml file. Adding the dependency is shown below.

<dependency>

<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>

<artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>

<scope>runtime</scope>

<optional>true</optional>

</dependency>

After adding that dependency in the pom.xml file, we need to restart the application to see if Devtool has taken effect. To know if Devtool has taken effect, The project name in the Boot Dashboard will display "dev tool" and the port number":8080" by the project name like this.

It is indicated that testingDevtool[devtools][:8080] carries the suffix [devtools][:8080]. That shows the project has Devtool implemented.

also, we will notice the log details are showing restartedMain which also indicated that the dev tool is implemented.

Conclusion

We have discussed what the dev tool is and how it is implemented in our spring boot project. it is recommended to leverage this technology in other to make our development experience a fast and smooth one. Devtool Liveload restart will be beneficial to every developer who is willing to work faster on their project.