How to Create and Run a Command Line Application using Spring Boot

If you have a requirement to develop a simple application using Spring Boot that runs on the Console (Terminal) then you can follow below two easy steps to get started,

Step 1: Project Dependencies

Go to start.spring.io and do not choose any dependencies and hit Generate.



You only need one starter dependency i.e. 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter'

Build.gradle:

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter'
}

Maven: pom.xml

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Step 2: Make Application class implement CommandLineRunner

Now all you need to do is open the Application class (one with annotation @SpringBootApplication) and make it implement CommandLineRunner.

Next, you need to override the run() method where you add your logic for your command-line application.

package org.code2care.demo;

import org.springframework.boot.CommandLineRunner;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;

@SpringBootApplication
public class DemoApplication implements CommandLineRunner {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args);

        ApplicationContext applicationContext = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("applicationConfig.xml");
        Employee employee = applicationContext.getBean("employee", Employee.class);

    }

    @Override
    public void run(String... args) throws Exception {
        System.out.println("This is it!");
    }
}

This is not an AI-generated article but is demonstrated by a human using Java 21, IntelliJ, and Spring Boot 3.

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