Tech Starter Pack for Junior: Spring MVC — a Robust Java Framework for Web Applications

Imagine you've already completed your learning at CodeGym and look for your first job. It's quite natural that you'll come across many job openings that list frameworks and tools you are unfamiliar with. We've launched a series of brief articles about additional Java tools you'll need to learn as you climb your career ladder. These articles also reveal where you can apply these tools and at what stage of your developer career. In our third article, we focus on the Spring MVC framework.

Spring MVC: What is it?

Spring MVC is a framework and a design pattern used in Java web application development. It stands for "Model-View-Controller" and is a part of the Spring framework. As the name implies, the Model-View-Controller architecture is divided into three main components:

• “Model” represents the application's data and business logic. It's responsible for managing the application's state, processing data, and interacting with the database or other data sources.
• “View” is responsible for presenting the data to the user and handling the user interface. It generates the user interface elements and communicates the data from the model to the user.
• “Controller” handles user input, processes requests, and manages the data flow between the Model and the View. It acts as an intermediary between the model and the view, ensuring that the right data is displayed to the user and responding to user interactions.

In simpler terms, the Controller receives data from the Model and then displays this data in the View. The Controller component also processes user requests and redirects them to the necessary pages of the application. It's important to understand that all Spring MVC components are separated, and you can make changes to the app's interface without making significant changes to the other two components.

How demandable is Spring MVC?

It's worth noting that job listings don't typically specify Spring MVC as frequently as Spring Boot, for example. However, Spring MVC is still quite demandable, and many companies prefer to create the server side of their web applications using this framework. According to ITJobsWatch, the average salary for developers who work with Spring MVC is around £62,000 per year (approximately $76,800).

What types of projects require Spring MVC?

Spring MVC is a versatile framework for building web applications using Java. It is particularly suitable for projects that require the development of web-based applications with a well-structured architecture. It's worth highlighting that when building web applications, developers often use the Spring framework as well. However, knowledge of Spring MVC will surely be an advantage.

When and how to learn Spring MVC?

Before learning Spring MVC, it's advisable to master the basics of Java and the Spring framework. Ideally, you should start learning Spring MVC simultaneously with Spring. You can learn Spring MVC with CodeGym University — this topic is included in the extensive curriculum that suits both newbies and experienced programmers. The good news is that you can grasp the fundamentals of Spring MVC in a month or even less. The key is to understand how this design pattern works. "Knowledge of Spring MVC alone is useless. First, you should learn the core of Spring and dependency injection. I would also recommend learning Spring Boot before these." — says Bruno Mendola, a seasoned software architect.