Spring Tools for Eclipse

What Spring Tools for Eclipse is

Spring Tools for Eclipse adds development support for enterprise applications built with Spring Framework and Spring Boot. It is available either as a ready-to-use Eclipse distribution or as extensions for an existing Eclipse installation. Spring Initializr integration helps create Spring Boot applications, and Spring Guides offers material for getting started. For navigating code, Spring Tools provides an overview of Spring source code, links to important parts of Spring applications, and smart completions for Spring elements. When Spring Boot Actuators are in use, the editor can show runtime details such as bean wiring, conditional reports, and configuration information. Optional Eclipse features add editor support for Cloud Foundry manifest files, BOSH configuration files, and Concourse CI configuration files. Spring Tools also works with AI coding assistants, adding context, an embedded MCP server, and code actions. The project is open source and free, with downloads for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Java is supported out of the box; Kotlin and Groovy projects can be generated, but tooling support for those languages is not included. Questions go to Stack Overflow, while GitHub issues are the route for reporting problems. The project repository points to its security policy for vulnerability reports.

Who it suits

Spring developers who use Eclipse for enterprise applications built with Spring Framework or Spring Boot may find its project creation, code navigation, completion, and runtime details useful. It also suits developers who want Spring support in an existing Eclipse installation or as a ready-to-use distribution.

Getting started

1. Visit https://spring.io/tools/.
2. Choose the ready-to-use Eclipse distribution or extensions for an existing Eclipse installation.
3. Select a download for Linux, macOS, or Windows.
4. Use Spring Initializr integration to create a Spring Boot app, or use Spring Guides to get started.

Verdict

Choose Spring Tools for Eclipse if you want free Spring Framework and Spring Boot development support within Eclipse, with project creation, code navigation, completions, and Actuator details. Developers working in Kotlin or Groovy should consider that those languages do not have included tooling support.