Introduction to Spring Boot Starter Parent

This guide will help you understand how the Spring Boot Starter Parent simplifies project setup by managing dependency versions, defining the Java version, and providing default configurations for commonly used plugins.

You will learn

What is the Spring Boot Starter Parent?
What are its key features?
When should you use it?

Tools you will need

Maven 3.1+ as your build tool
Your favorite IDE (Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA)
JDK 17+

What is Spring Boot Starter Parent?

In a typical pom.xml, most Spring Boot projects use spring-boot-starter-parent as the parent POM.
It provides sensible defaults for dependency versions, plugin management, and build configuration,
so you don’t have to configure them manually.

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>4.0.0-M2</version>
</parent>

Parent POMs let you handle the following for several child projects and modules:

Configuration – Java version and other project-wide properties
Dependency Management – Centralized version management for dependencies
Default Plugin Configuration – Predefined settings for common Maven plugins

What is inside Spring Boot Starter Parent?

The Spring Boot Starter Parent POM defines spring-boot-dependencies.
It inherits the dependency management from spring-boot-dependencies.
This ensures consistent and compatible versions for all Spring Boot modules and third-party libraries.
More details are covered in the next section.

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-dependencies</artifactId>
    <version>4.0.0-M2</version>
    <relativePath>../../spring-boot-dependencies</relativePath>
</parent>

Default java version is 1.6. A project can override this by specifying a property `17

3.1.1

` in the project pom. A few other settings related to encoding and source, target version are also set in the parent pom.

<properties>
    <java.version>17</java.version>
    <resource.delimiter>@</resource.delimiter>
    <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
    <spring-boot.run.main-class>${start-class}</spring-boot.run.main-class>
</properties>

Spring Boot Starter Parent specifies the default configuration for a host of plugins, including:

maven-compiler-plugin
maven-failsafe-plugin
maven-jar-plugin
maven-war-plugin
and many more…

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <configuration>
        <parameters>true</parameters>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
    <execution>
        <goals>
            <goal>integration-test</goal>
            <goal>verify</goal>
        </goals>
    </execution>
</executions>
<configuration>
    <classesDirectory>${project.build.outputDirectory}</classesDirectory>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
    <archive>
        <manifest>
            <mainClass>${start-class}</mainClass>
            <addDefaultImplementationEntries>true</addDefaultImplementationEntries>
        </manifest>
    </archive>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
    <archive>
        <manifest>
            <mainClass>${start-class}</mainClass>
            <addDefaultImplementationEntries>true</addDefaultImplementationEntries>
        </manifest>
    </archive>
</configuration>
</plugin>

What does Spring Boot Starter Parent inherit from spring-boot-dependencies?

Spring Boot Dependencies defines the Spring Boot project’s default dependency management.

If we want to use a different version of a specific dependency, we can override it by adding a new property in the project pom.xml.

The following extract demonstrates some of the key dependencies managed by the Spring Boot Dependencies parent POM.
Spring Boot Starter Parent inherits all of these properties from spring-boot-dependencies.

<properties>
    <activemq.version>6.1.7</activemq.version>
    <angus-mail.version>2.0.3</angus-mail.version>
    <artemis.version>2.42.0</artemis.version>
    <aspectj.version>1.9.24</aspectj.version>
    <assertj.version>3.27.3</assertj.version>
    <awaitility.version>4.3.0</awaitility.version>
    <zipkin-reporter.version>3.5.1</zipkin-reporter.version>
    <brave.version>6.3.0</brave.version>
    <build-helper-maven-plugin.version>3.6.1</build-helper-maven-plugin.version>
    <byte-buddy.version>1.17.6</byte-buddy.version>
    <cache2k.version>2.6.1.Final</cache2k.version>
    <caffeine.version>3.2.2</caffeine.version>
    <cassandra-driver.version>4.19.0</cassandra-driver.version>
    <classmate.version>1.7.0</classmate.version>
    <commons-codec.version>1.19.0</commons-codec.version>
    <commons-dbcp2.version>2.13.0</commons-dbcp2.version>
    <commons-lang3.version>3.18.0</commons-lang3.version>
    <commons-logging.version>1.3.5</commons-logging.version>
    <commons-pool.version>1.6</commons-pool.version>
    <commons-pool2.version>2.12.1</commons-pool2.version>
    <couchbase-client.version>3.8.2</couchbase-client.version>
    <crac.version>1.5.0</crac.version>
    <cyclonedx-maven-plugin.version>2.9.1</cyclonedx-maven-plugin.version>
    <db2-jdbc.version>12.1.2.0</db2-jdbc.version>
    <dependency-management-plugin.version>1.1.7</dependency-management-plugin.version>
    <derby.version>10.16.1.1</derby.version>
    <ehcache3.version>3.10.8</ehcache3.version>
    <elasticsearch-client.version>9.0.3</elasticsearch-client.version>
    <flyway.version>11.10.3</flyway.version>
    <freemarker.version>2.3.34</freemarker.version>
    <git-commit-id-maven-plugin.version>9.0.2</git-commit-id-maven-plugin.version>
    <glassfish-jaxb.version>4.0.5</glassfish-jaxb.version>
    <glassfish-jstl.version>3.0.1</glassfish-jstl.version>
    <graphql-java.version>24.1</graphql-java.version>
    <groovy.version>4.0.28</groovy.version>
    <gson.version>2.13.1</gson.version>
    <h2.version>2.3.232</h2.version>
    <hamcrest.version>3.0</hamcrest.version>
    <hazelcast.version>5.5.0</hazelcast.version>
    <hibernate.version>7.0.7.Final</hibernate.version>
    <hibernate-validator.version>9.0.1.Final</hibernate-validator.version>
    <hikaricp.version>6.3.1</hikaricp.version>
    <hsqldb.version>2.7.3</hsqldb.version>
    <htmlunit.version>4.13.0</htmlunit.version>
    <httpasyncclient.version>4.1.5</httpasyncclient.version>
    <httpclient5.version>5.5</httpclient5.version>
    <httpcore.version>4.4.16</httpcore.version>
    <httpcore5.version>5.3.4</httpcore5.version>
    <infinispan.version>15.2.5.Final</infinispan.version>
    <influxdb-java.version>2.25</influxdb-java.version>
    <jackson-bom.version>2.19.2</jackson-bom.version>
    <jakarta-activation.version>2.1.3</jakarta-activation.version>
    <jakarta-annotation.version>3.0.0</jakarta-annotation.version>
    <jakarta-inject.version>2.0.1</jakarta-inject.version>
    <jakarta-jms.version>3.1.0</jakarta-jms.version>
    <jakarta-json.version>2.1.3</jakarta-json.version>
    <jakarta-json-bind.version>3.0.1</jakarta-json-bind.version>
    <jakarta-mail.version>2.1.3</jakarta-mail.version>
    <jakarta-management.version>1.1.4</jakarta-management.version>
    <jakarta-persistence.version>3.2.0</jakarta-persistence.version>
    <jakarta-servlet.version>6.1.0</jakarta-servlet.version>
    <jakarta-servlet-jsp-jstl.version>3.0.2</jakarta-servlet-jsp-jstl.version>
    <jakarta-transaction.version>2.0.1</jakarta-transaction.version>
    <jakarta-validation.version>3.1.1</jakarta-validation.version>
    <jakarta-websocket.version>2.2.0</jakarta-websocket.version>
    <jakarta-ws-rs.version>4.0.0</jakarta-ws-rs.version>
    <jakarta-xml-bind.version>4.0.2</jakarta-xml-bind.version>
    <jakarta-xml-soap.version>3.0.2</jakarta-xml-soap.version>
    <jakarta-xml-ws.version>4.0.2</jakarta-xml-ws.version>
    <janino.version>3.1.12</janino.version>
    <javax-cache.version>1.1.1</javax-cache.version>
    <javax-money.version>1.1</javax-money.version>
    <jaxen.version>2.0.0</jaxen.version>
    <jaybird.version>6.0.2</jaybird.version>
    <jboss-logging.version>3.6.1.Final</jboss-logging.version>
    <jdom2.version>2.0.6.1</jdom2.version>
    <jedis.version>6.0.0</jedis.version>
    <jersey.version>4.0.0-M2</jersey.version>
    <jetty-reactive-httpclient.version>4.0.10</jetty-reactive-httpclient.version>
    <jetty.version>12.0.23</jetty.version>
    <jmustache.version>1.16</jmustache.version>
    <jooq.version>3.19.24</jooq.version>
    <json-path.version>2.9.0</json-path.version>
    <json-smart.version>2.5.2</json-smart.version>
    <jsonassert.version>1.5.3</jsonassert.version>
    <jtds.version>1.3.1</jtds.version>
    <junit.version>4.13.2</junit.version>
    <junit-jupiter.version>5.13.4</junit-jupiter.version>
    <kafka.version>4.0.0</kafka.version>
    <kotlin.version>2.2.0</kotlin.version>
    <kotlin-coroutines.version>1.10.2</kotlin-coroutines.version>
    <kotlin-serialization.version>1.9.0</kotlin-serialization.version>
    <lettuce.version>6.7.1.RELEASE</lettuce.version>
    <liquibase.version>4.33.0</liquibase.version>
    <log4j2.version>2.24.3</log4j2.version>
    <logback.version>1.5.18</logback.version>
    <lombok.version>1.18.38</lombok.version>
    <mariadb.version>3.5.4</mariadb.version>
    <maven-antrun-plugin.version>3.1.0</maven-antrun-plugin.version>
    <maven-assembly-plugin.version>3.7.1</maven-assembly-plugin.version>
    <maven-clean-plugin.version>3.5.0</maven-clean-plugin.version>
    <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.14.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
    <maven-dependency-plugin.version>3.8.1</maven-dependency-plugin.version>
    <maven-deploy-plugin.version>3.1.4</maven-deploy-plugin.version>
    <maven-enforcer-plugin.version>3.6.1</maven-enforcer-plugin.version>
    <maven-failsafe-plugin.version>3.5.3</maven-failsafe-plugin.version>
    <maven-help-plugin.version>3.5.1</maven-help-plugin.version>
    <maven-install-plugin.version>3.1.4</maven-install-plugin.version>
    <maven-invoker-plugin.version>3.9.1</maven-invoker-plugin.version>
    <maven-jar-plugin.version>3.4.2</maven-jar-plugin.version>
    <maven-javadoc-plugin.version>3.11.2</maven-javadoc-plugin.version>
    <maven-resources-plugin.version>3.3.1</maven-resources-plugin.version>
    <maven-shade-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-shade-plugin.version>
    <maven-source-plugin.version>3.3.1</maven-source-plugin.version>
    <maven-surefire-plugin.version>3.5.3</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
    <maven-war-plugin.version>3.4.0</maven-war-plugin.version>
    <micrometer.version>1.16.0-M1</micrometer.version>
    <micrometer-tracing.version>1.6.0-M1</micrometer-tracing.version>
    <mockito.version>5.18.0</mockito.version>
    <mongodb.version>5.5.1</mongodb.version>
    <mssql-jdbc.version>12.10.1.jre11</mssql-jdbc.version>
    <mysql.version>9.3.0</mysql.version>
    <native-build-tools-plugin.version>0.10.6</native-build-tools-plugin.version>
    <nekohtml.version>1.9.22</nekohtml.version>
    <neo4j-java-driver.version>5.28.9</neo4j-java-driver.version>
    <netty.version>4.2.3.Final</netty.version>
    <opentelemetry.version>1.52.0</opentelemetry.version>
    <oracle-database.version>23.8.0.25.04</oracle-database.version>
    <oracle-r2dbc.version>1.3.0</oracle-r2dbc.version>
    <pooled-jms.version>3.1.7</pooled-jms.version>
    <postgresql.version>42.7.7</postgresql.version>
    <prometheus-client.version>1.3.10</prometheus-client.version>
    <prometheus-simpleclient.version>0.16.0</prometheus-simpleclient.version>
    <pulsar.version>4.0.5</pulsar.version>
    <pulsar-reactive.version>0.7.0</pulsar-reactive.version>
    <quartz.version>2.5.0</quartz.version>
    <querydsl.version>5.1.0</querydsl.version>
    <r2dbc-h2.version>1.0.0.RELEASE</r2dbc-h2.version>
    <r2dbc-mariadb.version>1.3.0</r2dbc-mariadb.version>
    <r2dbc-mssql.version>1.0.2.RELEASE</r2dbc-mssql.version>
    <r2dbc-mysql.version>1.4.1</r2dbc-mysql.version>
    <r2dbc-pool.version>1.0.2.RELEASE</r2dbc-pool.version>
    <r2dbc-postgresql.version>1.0.7.RELEASE</r2dbc-postgresql.version>
    <r2dbc-proxy.version>1.1.6.RELEASE</r2dbc-proxy.version>
    <r2dbc-spi.version>1.0.0.RELEASE</r2dbc-spi.version>
    <rabbit-amqp-client.version>5.26.0</rabbit-amqp-client.version>
    <rabbit-stream-client.version>0.23.0</rabbit-stream-client.version>
    <reactive-streams.version>1.0.4</reactive-streams.version>
    <reactor-bom.version>2025.0.0-M5</reactor-bom.version>
    <rest-assured.version>5.5.5</rest-assured.version>
    <rsocket.version>1.1.5</rsocket.version>
    <rxjava3.version>3.1.11</rxjava3.version>
    <saaj-impl.version>3.0.4</saaj-impl.version>
    <selenium.version>4.34.0</selenium.version>
    <selenium-htmlunit.version>4.33.0</selenium-htmlunit.version>
    <sendgrid.version>4.10.3</sendgrid.version>
    <slf4j.version>2.0.17</slf4j.version>
    <snakeyaml.version>2.4</snakeyaml.version>
    <spring-amqp.version>4.0.0-M3</spring-amqp.version>
    <spring-authorization-server.version>2.0.0-M1</spring-authorization-server.version>
    <spring-batch.version>6.0.0-M1</spring-batch.version>
    <spring-data-bom.version>2025.1.0-M4</spring-data-bom.version>
    <spring-framework.version>7.0.0-M7</spring-framework.version>
    <spring-graphql.version>2.0.0-M1</spring-graphql.version>
    <spring-hateoas.version>3.0.0-M3</spring-hateoas.version>
    <spring-integration.version>7.0.0-M1</spring-integration.version>
    <spring-kafka.version>4.0.0-M3</spring-kafka.version>
    <spring-ldap.version>4.0.0-M1</spring-ldap.version>
    <spring-pulsar.version>2.0.0-M1</spring-pulsar.version>
    <spring-restdocs.version>4.0.0-M1</spring-restdocs.version>
    <spring-retry.version>2.0.12</spring-retry.version>
    <spring-security.version>7.0.0-M1</spring-security.version>
    <spring-session.version>4.0.0-M1</spring-session.version>
    <spring-ws.version>5.0.0-M1</spring-ws.version>
    <sqlite-jdbc.version>3.50.3.0</sqlite-jdbc.version>
    <testcontainers.version>1.21.3</testcontainers.version>
    <testcontainers-redis-module.version>2.2.4</testcontainers-redis-module.version>
    <thymeleaf.version>3.1.3.RELEASE</thymeleaf.version>
    <thymeleaf-extras-data-attribute.version>2.0.1</thymeleaf-extras-data-attribute.version>
    <thymeleaf-extras-springsecurity.version>3.1.3.RELEASE</thymeleaf-extras-springsecurity.version>
    <thymeleaf-layout-dialect.version>3.4.0</thymeleaf-layout-dialect.version>
    <tomcat.version>11.0.9</tomcat.version>
    <unboundid-ldapsdk.version>7.0.3</unboundid-ldapsdk.version>
    <undertow.version>2.3.18.Final</undertow.version>
    <versions-maven-plugin.version>2.18.0</versions-maven-plugin.version>
    <vibur.version>26.0</vibur.version>
    <webjars-locator-core.version>0.59</webjars-locator-core.version>
    <webjars-locator-lite.version>1.1.0</webjars-locator-lite.version>
    <wsdl4j.version>1.6.3</wsdl4j.version>
    <xml-maven-plugin.version>1.1.0</xml-maven-plugin.version>
    <xmlunit2.version>2.10.3</xmlunit2.version>
    <yasson.version>3.0.4</yasson.version>
</properties>

Defines Maven 3.14.0 as the minimum version needed.

<prerequisites>
    <maven>3.14.0</maven>
</prerequisites>

Introduction to Spring Boot Starter Parent

You will learn

Tools you will need

What is Spring Boot Starter Parent?

What is inside Spring Boot Starter Parent?

What does Spring Boot Starter Parent inherit from spring-boot-dependencies?

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