Simple Guide: Spring Boot User Form Submission with FreeMarker

Handling form data is a vital skill for any Java developer. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to build a User Form using Spring Boot and the FreeMarker template engine. You'll learn how to capture user input and display it back effortlessly.

What is FreeMarker?

FreeMarker is a Java-based template engine. It allows you to generate dynamic web pages by merging a template (HTML with special tags) with Java data. It's lightweight, fast, and works perfectly with Spring Boot.

How Form Submission Works

When a user fills out a form and clicks "Submit," the browser sends a POST request to your server. Spring Boot captures this data and maps it to a Java object so you can process it, save it, or display it.

Project Walkthrough

Dependency Setup: Add the FreeMarker starter to your pom.xml.
The User Model: Create a simple Java class (POJO) with name, email, and age fields.
The Form View: Create a .ftlh file containing an HTML <form> that maps to your model.
The Controller: Use @GetMapping to show the form and @PostMapping to receive the data.

Why Choose FreeMarker?

Unlike JSP, FreeMarker is not dependent on the Servlet environment or a specific web container. It is highly flexible and provides excellent error reporting during development, making it a great choice for beginners and pros alike.

Next Steps: Related Tutorials

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Friday, 16 July 2021

User form Submission Example with Spring Boot and FreeMarker | Spring Boot Tutorial