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Chapter 1.4☕ 14 min read

Setup IntelliJ IDEA

The best IDE for Spring Boot development, made easy.

01The Concept: IntelliJ IDEA Setup

The Gachibowli Luxury Apartment Analogy:

Setting up VS Code or basic Eclipse is like renting a basic flat. It's fine, but you have to buy your own furniture and fix the plumbing.

Setting up IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate is like moving into a fully serviced luxury apartment in Gachibowli. The moment you step in, the AC is already running, the Wi-Fi is connected, and a mechanic is on standby. IntelliJ Ultimate understands Spring Boot natively — it highlights @Autowired beans, gives you a Spring tool window, and auto-completes your application.properties.

(Note: IntelliJ Ultimate is paid, but Community Edition is free and runs code perfectly — just without the native Spring UI.)

02Why IntelliJ is the Best IDE for Spring

IntelliJ IDEA is the most popular IDE for Java developers. Here's why it shines for Spring Boot:

  • Smart auto-completion for all Spring annotations and configuration files
  • Built-in Spring tool window to visualize beans, endpoints, and configurations
  • One-click run/debug — no manual server setup needed
  • Powerful refactoring tools for large codebases
  • Integrated HTTP Client to test REST APIs without leaving the IDE
03Step-by-Step: Running Your App in IntelliJ
  1. Open IntelliJ IDEA.
  2. Click File → Open.
  3. Select the pom.xml file inside your project folder.
  4. A popup will ask "Open as Project". Click Open as Project.
  5. IntelliJ takes 30-60 seconds to download Maven dependencies. Wait for the progress bar at the bottom right to finish.
  6. Navigate to src/main/java/com/devinhyderabad/Application.java.
  7. Next to public class Application, you will see a green Play button. Click it and select Run 'Application.main()'.
  8. Look at the console window at the bottom. You will see the Tomcat server starting.
04Terminal Output & Verification

Expected Console Output

When your app starts successfully, you'll see this in the console:

  .   ____          _            __ _ _
 /\\ / ___'' __ _ _(_)_ __  __ _ \ \ \ \
( ( )\___ | ''_ | ''_| | ''_ \/ _` | \ \ \ \
 \\/  ___)| |_)| | | | | || (_| |  ) ) ) )
  '  |____| .__|_| |_|_| |_\__, | / / / /
 =========|_|==============|___/=/_/_/_/
 :: Spring Boot ::               (v3.2.0)

Tomcat started on port 8080 (http) with context path ''
Started Application in 2.341 seconds

Your app is now live! Go to http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

05Why It Matters / Interview Note

Interview Question: "How do you typically run and debug your Spring Boot applications locally?"

Answer: "I use IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate. I run the application directly from the main class using the built-in runner. For debugging, I simply use 'Debug' instead of 'Run', which allows me to set breakpoints in my controller/service layers. I also rely on IntelliJ's HTTP Client to test my REST endpoints without leaving the IDE."

Key Takeaways

  • ✅ IntelliJ IDEA is the most popular IDE for Spring Boot development
  • ✅ Import Maven project via pom.xml — IntelliJ handles dependencies
  • ✅ Run main class directly with green Play button — embedded Tomcat starts
  • ✅ Use Debug mode for breakpoint debugging in controller/service layers
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