Getting started

This page explains how to check out the Spring Framework source, build it, run tests, and import it into an IDE. For dependency-management instructions (how to consume the published artifacts), see the reference documentation.

Prerequisites

• JDK 17+ for compiling most modules. The repository's .sdkmanrc pins java=25-librca for development; CI also runs Java 21 and 25 (.github/workflows/ci.yml).
• Gradle wrapper is included (gradlew, gradlew.bat). Do not install Gradle separately.
• Git to clone the repository.
• ~2 GB heap for the Gradle daemon (org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2048m in gradle.properties).
• Toolchains — Gradle's toolchain support automatically downloads the JDK versions referenced in .github/workflows/ci.yml if they are missing locally.

Clone

git clone https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework.git
cd spring-framework

Build

The build is parallel by default (org.gradle.parallel=true).

./gradlew build           # compile + test all modules
./gradlew assemble        # compile + jar without running tests
./gradlew :spring-core:build  # build a single module

A typical full build runs >2,800 test classes and takes 10–30 minutes depending on hardware. For quicker iteration, target a specific module.

Test

./gradlew test                        # run all tests
./gradlew :spring-context:test         # tests for one module
./gradlew :spring-web:test --tests "*Cors*"   # filtered by name pattern

Test sources live in <module>/src/test/java and <module>/src/test/kotlin. Test fixtures shared between modules use the java-test-fixtures plugin and live in <module>/src/testFixtures/.

Useful Gradle tasks

Task	Purpose
./gradlew check	Tests + Checkstyle + nullability checks
./gradlew javadoc	Per-module Javadoc
./gradlew :framework-api:javadoc	Aggregated multi-module Javadoc
./gradlew antora	Build the Antora reference docs (framework-docs/build/site/index.html)
./gradlew publishToMavenLocal	Install snapshot JARs into ~/.m2/repository
./gradlew clean	Remove build outputs

IDE import

Two helper guides live at the repository root:

• import-into-intellij-idea.md — how to import the Gradle project into IntelliJ IDEA
• import-into-eclipse.md — same for Eclipse, with required settings

The repository's .idea/ directory is committed (project metadata only, not user state) and configures IntelliJ for the project's code style.

Code style and quality gates

• Checkstyle — Custom rules enforced by the org.springframework.build.conventions Gradle plugin (defined in buildSrc/).
• Nullability — Each module applies io.spring.nullability, which validates @Nullable/JSpecify annotations.
• Code formatting — Conventions documented in the Code Style wiki page.

Running benchmarks

JMH benchmarks live in <module>/src/jmh/. Run them with the me.champeau.jmh plugin:

./gradlew :spring-core:jmh

See the Micro-Benchmarks wiki page for guidance.

What's next

• Module-by-module deep dives: modules/
• Cross-cutting features: features/
• Contribution workflow: how-to-contribute/development-workflow