Spring Boot - Starter Parent

Spring Boot provides a way to simplify the bootstrapping and development of new Spring applications. One of its core components is the use of "starters" - templates that provide a set of default configurations, dependencies, and behaviors. Among these starters, there's the spring-boot-starter-parent.

The spring-boot-starter-parent is a special starter that provides useful Maven defaults. It also includes the spring-boot-dependencies BOM (Bill Of Materials). Here's why you might want to use it:

Dependency Management: The parent POM (Project Object Model) provides a centralized place for defining common dependencies so you don't have to specify version numbers for any of the common Spring Boot dependencies.
Default Plugin Configurations: It provides default configurations for Maven plugins, for instance, the maven-failsafe-plugin and the maven-jar-plugin.
Inherits Java Version and other properties: It provides a Java version property which is used to set the Java version in the project.
Resource Filtering: It provides resource filtering for application properties and YAML files, which is useful for various profiles you might have like dev, test, prod, etc.
UTF-8 Source Encoding: It sets the source code encoding default to UTF-8.

Using the spring-boot-starter-parent is as simple as setting it as your project's parent in your Maven pom.xml:

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>2.X.X.RELEASE</version>
</parent>

Replace 2.X.X.RELEASE with the version of Spring Boot you want to use.

However, if you need custom parent POM configurations, or if your organization already uses a corporate-wide parent POM, it might be tricky to incorporate the spring-boot-starter-parent. In such cases, you can still leverage the dependency management capabilities of Spring Boot without using the starter-parent directly, by importing the spring-boot-dependencies BOM in the dependencyManagement section of your POM.

In conclusion, the spring-boot-starter-parent provides a hassle-free way of setting up a Spring Boot project with Maven by offering sensible defaults, but like all defaults in the Spring ecosystem, they're just recommendations and can be overridden or bypassed if your specific case requires it.

Configuring projects with Spring Boot Starter Parent:
- Description: The spring-boot-starter-parent is a special starter POM that provides default configurations and settings for Spring Boot projects. It manages common build settings, dependencies, and plugin configurations.
- Code:
```

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>2.6.4</version> 
</parent>
```

Inheritance and version management with Starter Parent in Spring Boot:

Description: Projects inheriting from the spring-boot-starter-parent benefit from version management. Spring Boot manages versions of dependencies, plugins, and other settings, ensuring compatibility.

Code:

<!-- Example version management with Spring Boot Starter Parent -->
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Other dependencies with managed versions -->
</dependencies>

Overriding properties and dependencies in Spring Boot Starter Parent:
- Description: Customize project settings by overriding properties and dependencies defined in the spring-boot-starter-parent.
- Code:
```

<properties>
    <java.version>11</java.version>
    
</properties>
```

Customizing build settings with Starter Parent in Spring Boot:

Description: Customize build settings such as plugins and configurations using the spring-boot-starter-parent.

Code:

<!-- Example customizing build settings in Spring Boot Starter Parent -->
<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <!-- Custom configurations for the plugin -->
        </plugin>
        <!-- Other plugins -->
    </plugins>
</build>

Managing dependencies and plugins with Spring Boot Starter Parent:

Description: The spring-boot-starter-parent manages dependencies and plugins, simplifying project configuration. Use starters to easily include sets of dependencies.

Code:

<!-- Example managing dependencies with Spring Boot Starter Parent -->
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Other dependencies managed by the parent -->
</dependencies>

Parent POM vs. Starter Parent in Spring Boot:
- Description: While both a custom parent POM and spring-boot-starter-parent can be used, the latter is specifically designed for Spring Boot projects. It provides conventions and defaults tailored for Spring Boot applications.
- Code:
```

<parent>
    <groupId>com.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>my-parent</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
</parent>
```

Extending and creating custom starters with Starter Parent in Spring Boot:

Description: Extend or create custom starters based on the spring-boot-starter-parent. This allows you to define a set of dependencies and configurations for reuse across projects.

Code:

<!-- Example custom starter with Spring Boot Starter Parent -->
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Other common dependencies -->
</dependencies>

Updating to the latest version of Spring Boot Starter Parent:

Description: Regularly update the version of the spring-boot-starter-parent in your project to benefit from the latest features, bug fixes, and dependency updates.

Code:

<!-- Example updating to the latest version of Spring Boot Starter Parent -->
<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>2.7.0</version> <!-- Use the latest version -->
</parent>