Who is this course for?

This course is ideal for Java developers, software engineers, and students who want to transition into backend or microservices development. It also suits professionals who wish to deepen their understanding of RESTful API design and implementation or those seeking to modernize existing monolithic systems using microservices architecture.

How long does it take to complete the course?

The course contains approximately 7 hours of video content. Depending on your pace and practice time, it can be completed comfortably within one to two weeks. Learners are encouraged to follow along with the hands-on exercises to reinforce their understanding and build real-world coding experience.

Is this course part of a specialization or a standalone offering?

This is a standalone course designed to give you a complete, self-contained foundation in microservices and REST API development with Spring Boot, without requiring additional modules or prerequisites.

What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Foundations of Microservices and REST APIs with Spring Boot

Foundations of Microservices and REST APIs with Spring Boot

This course is part of Master Microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud Specialization

Instructor: Packt - Course Instructors

Included with Coursera Plus

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

Recommended experience

8 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

Recommended experience

8 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Build RESTful APIs using Spring Boot and explore core HTTP methods in API development.
Design, document, and version scalable REST APIs with Swagger and HATEOAS integration.
Connect APIs to databases using JPA, Hibernate, and MySQL for data persistence.
Secure microservices using Spring Security and enhance performance with Spring Actuator.

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

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This course is part of the Master Microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

This course features Coursera Coach!

A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. Build the skills to design, develop, and secure scalable microservices using Spring Boot and Spring Cloud. This course equips learners with a practical understanding of RESTful web services, API architecture, and the essential tools required to create robust backend solutions in Java. Whether you're new to microservices or seeking a structured foundation, this course provides the hands-on knowledge to get you started confidently. You’ll begin with an introduction to microservices architecture and how Spring Boot simplifies development. Then, you'll explore foundational concepts like installing the Java development environment, understanding SOAP vs REST, and learning how to build and expose RESTful APIs. From there, you’ll incrementally develop a complete REST API with advanced features including versioning, filtering, error handling, Swagger documentation, and authentication using Spring Security. The final sections dive deeper into microservices concepts, connecting your services with relational databases using JPA, Hibernate, and MySQL, and implementing scalable microservice patterns. You’ll also explore tools like Docker, HAL Explorer, and Actuator for deployment, monitoring, and exploration. This course is designed for developers with basic Java knowledge who want to learn backend API development and microservices design. It is ideal for aspiring full-stack developers, backend engineers, and system architects. A working knowledge of object-oriented programming is recommended. This is an intermediate-level course. By the end of the course, you will be able to build REST APIs with Spring Boot, integrate them with databases, implement microservice architecture with Spring Cloud, and deploy scalable, secure applications with confidence.

In this module, we will explore the essential concepts of microservices architecture and how to get started with building microservices using Spring Boot and Spring Cloud. You will also learn how to install and configure your development environment to kickstart your journey into microservices development. By the end of this module, you'll have a solid foundation for creating scalable, production-ready applications.

What's included

3 videos2 readings

In this module, we will introduce you to the core concepts of web services, focusing on both SOAP and RESTful services. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of web service terminology, and learn how to create platform-independent solutions that can communicate seamlessly across different systems. By the end of this module, you’ll be well-equipped to choose the right type of web service for your projects.

What's included

5 videos1 assignment1 plugin

5 videosTotal 15 minutes

Step 01 - What is a Web Service? TRY 14 minutes
Step 02 - What is a Web Service?3 minutes
Step 03 - How to make web services platform independent?1 minute
Step 04 - Web Services - Key Terminology1 minute
Step 05 - SOAP vs RESTful Web Services4 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 15 minutes

Introduction To Web Services - V3 - Assessment15 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Defining and Identifying Web Services15 minutes

In this module, we will guide you through building and enhancing REST APIs using Spring Boot. You’ll start with a simple “Hello World” REST API and progressively add functionality, such as data validation, exception handling, and versioning. By the end of this module, you will be able to build robust and flexible RESTful APIs that are ready for real-world applications.

What's included

40 videos1 assignment1 plugin

40 videosTotal 285 minutes

Restful Web Services - Section Introduction0 minutes
Step 00 - Creating a REST API with Spring Boot - An Overview4 minutes
Step 01 - Initializing a REST API Project with Spring Boot7 minutes
Step 02 - Creating a Hello World REST API with Spring Boot6 minutes
Step 03 - Enhancing the Hello World REST API to return a Bean4 minutes
Step 04 - What's happening in the background? Spring Boot Starters & Autoconfign9 minutes
Step 05 - Enhancing the Hello World REST API with a Path Variable4 minutes
Step 06 - Designing the REST API for Social Media Application7 minutes
Step 07 - Creating User Bean and UserDaoService6 minutes
Step 08 - Implementing GET Methods for User Resource8 minutes
Step 09 - Implementing POST Method to create User Resource8 minutes
Step 10 - Enhancing POST Method to return correct HTTP Status Code and Location11 minutes
Step 11 - Implementing Exception Handling - 404 Resource Not Found7 minutes
Step 12 - Implementing Generic Exception Handling for all Resources11 minutes
Step 13 - Implementing DELETE Method to delete a User Resource3 minutes
Step 14 - Implementing Validations for REST API11 minutes
Step 15 - Overview of Advanced REST API Features1 minute
Step 16 - Understanding Open API Specification and Swagger4 minutes
Step 17 - Configuring Auto Generation of Swagger Documentation9 minutes
Step 18 - Exploring Content Negotiation - Implementing Support for XML5 minutes
Step 19 - Exploring Internationalization for REST API9 minutes
Step 20 - Versioning REST API - URI Versioning9 minutes
Step 21 - Versioning REST API - Request Param, Header and Content Negotiation11 minutes
Step 22 - Implementing HATEOAS for REST API10 minutes
Step 23 - Implementing Static Filtering for REST API9 minutes
Step 24 - Implementing Dynamic Filtering for REST API9 minutes
Step 25 - Monitoring APIs with Spring Boot Actuator6 minutes
Step 26 - Exploring APIs with Spring Boot HAL Explorer4 minutes
Step 27 - Connecting REST API to H2 using JPA and Hibernate - An Overview1 minute
Step 28 - Creating User Entity and some test data5 minutes
Step 29 - Enhancing REST API to connect to H2 using JPA and Hibernate10 minutes
Step 30 - Creating Post Entity with Many to One Relationship with User Entity10 minutes
Step 31 - Implementing a GET API to retrieve all Posts of a User3 minutes
Step 32 - Implementing a POST API to create a Post for a User6 minutes
Step 33 - Exploring JPA and Hibernate Queries for REST API6 minutes
Step 34 - Connecting REST API to MySQL Database - An Overview1 minute
Step 34z - OPTIONAL - Installing Docker4 minutes
Step 35 - OPTIONAL - Connecting REST API to MySQL Database - Implementation15 minutes
Step 36 - Implementing Basic Authentication with Spring Security5 minutes
Step 37 - Enhancing Spring Security Configuration for Basic Authentication8 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 15 minutes

Restful Web Services with Spring Boot - V3 - Assessment15 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

Building a REST API for Users and Posts15 minutes

In this module, we will explore the differences between monolithic and microservices architectures. You will learn how microservices address the challenges of scalability, maintenance, and deployment faced by monolithic applications. By the end of this module, you will understand how breaking an application into smaller, independent services can lead to more efficient development and deployment.

What's included

6 videos1 reading3 assignments1 plugin

6 videosTotal 20 minutes

Step 00 - Microservices Section Introduction0 minutes
Step 01 - What is a Monolith Application?3 minutes
Step 02 - Introduction to Microservices4 minutes
Step 03 - Exploring Microservices Architecture Example2 minutes
Step 04 - Advantages of Microservices2 minutes
Step 05 - Key Microservice Solutions - Spring Boot and Spring Cloud7 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Conclusion to the Course 'Foundations of Microservices and REST APIs with Spring Boot'10 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Full Course Practice Assessment15 minutes
Introduction To Microservices - V3 - Assessment15 minutes
Full Course Assessment60 minutes

1 pluginTotal 15 minutes

From Monoliths to Microservices: Understanding the Shift15 minutes

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Packt - Course Instructors

Packt

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Frequently asked questions

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to building and understanding microservices and REST APIs using Spring Boot and Spring Cloud. It begins with the fundamentals of web services and progresses to hands-on implementation of RESTful APIs, database integration, authentication, and microservices architecture, equipping learners with the skills to design scalable, maintainable, and production-ready applications.

Microservices are a software architectural style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled, independently deployable services. REST APIs (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interfaces) enable communication between these services over the web. Together, they form the backbone of modern, cloud-native applications, providing scalability, flexibility, and resilience in distributed systems—skills highly sought after in today’s software development landscape.

After completing this course, you will be able to design and build RESTful APIs using Spring Boot, implement CRUD operations, handle exceptions, apply versioning, and add authentication with Spring Security. You’ll also gain practical experience connecting APIs to databases using JPA, Hibernate, and MySQL, documenting APIs with Swagger, and developing microservices that can be deployed and scaled using Spring Cloud.

To get the most out of this course, learners should have a basic understanding of Java programming and object-oriented concepts. Familiarity with fundamental web development principles and databases will be helpful, but the course provides setup guidance, including installing Java, Eclipse IDE, and configuring your environment for Spring Boot development.

Yes, the course balances theory with practical implementation. You’ll start by understanding core concepts like web services, REST, and microservices, then move on to building, testing, and deploying functional APIs and microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud, ensuring both conceptual clarity and applied proficiency.

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.