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* Be opinionated, but get out of the way quickly as requirements start to diverge from the defaults.
* Provide a range of non-functional features common to large classes of projects (for example, embedded servers, security, metrics, health checks, externalized configuration).
The {docs}/html/[reference documentation] includes detailed {docs}/html/getting-started.html#getting-started-installing-spring-boot[installation instructions] as well as a comprehensive {docs}/html/getting-started.html#getting-started-first-application[``getting started``] guide.
* Check the {docs}/html/[reference documentation], especially the {docs}/html/howto.html#howto[How-to's] -- they provide solutions to the most common questions.
* Learn the Spring basics -- Spring Boot builds on many other Spring projects; check the https://spring.io[spring.io] web-site for a wealth of reference documentation.
If you are new to Spring, try one of the https://spring.io/guides[guides].
* If you are upgrading, read the {github}/wiki[release notes] for upgrade instructions and "new and noteworthy" features.
* Ask a question - we monitor https://stackoverflow.com[stackoverflow.com] for questions tagged with https://stackoverflow.com/tags/spring-boot[`spring-boot`].
You can also chat with the community on https://gitter.im/spring-projects/spring-boot[Gitter].
You don't need to build from source to use Spring Boot (binaries in https://repo.spring.io[repo.spring.io]), but if you want to try out the latest and greatest, Spring Boot can be built and published to your local Maven cache using the https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/gradle_wrapper.html[Gradle wrapper].
Auto-configuration attempts to deduce which beans a user might need. For example, if `HSQLDB` is on the classpath, and the user has not configured any database connections, then they probably want an in-memory database to be defined.
Auto-configuration will always back away as the user starts to define their own beans.
You get a one-stop-shop for all the Spring and related technology you need without having to hunt through sample code and copy paste loads of dependency descriptors.
For example, if you want to get started using Spring and JPA for database access, include the `spring-boot-starter-data-jpa` dependency in your project, and you are good to go.
The Spring command line application compiles and runs Groovy source, allowing you to write the absolute minimum amount of code to get an application running.
Spring Boot Loader provides the secret sauce that allows you to build a single jar file that can be launched using `java -jar`.
Generally you will not need to use `spring-boot-loader` directly, but instead work with the link:spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin[Gradle] or link:spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-maven-plugin[Maven] plugin.
The spring-boot-devtools module provides additional development-time features, such as automatic restarts, for a smoother application development experience.
* https://spring.io/guides/gs/spring-boot/[Building an Application with Spring Boot] is an introductory guide that shows you how to create an application, run it, and add some management services.
* https://spring.io/guides/gs/actuator-service/[Building a RESTful Web Service with Spring Boot Actuator] is a guide to creating a REST web service and also shows how the server can be configured.
* https://spring.io/guides/gs/convert-jar-to-war/[Converting a Spring Boot JAR Application to a WAR] shows you how to run applications in a web server as a WAR file.