6 Must-Read Spring Boot and Spring Framework Books for Java developers in 2026

Read These 6 Spring Framework Books to Stay Relevant in 2026

Spring Framework is one of the most famous frameworks in the Java world, which is used to develop Java applications, both core Java and web applications.

It is also one of the most job-oriented skills for Java developers; hence, many beginners and intermediate Java programmers try to learn the Spring framework on their own.

I often receive queries for Spring book recommendations, e.g., which Spring book is suitable for beginners, or which Spring book is good for intermediate and advanced developers, which book should I read to learn Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, Spring Batch, or Spring Security, etc.?

In this article, I have tried to answer those questions by recommending some of the best Spring frameworks related to books currently available in the market.

As I told you before, the Spring framework is the most popular framework or library used in the Java world. It is also the most sought-after skill among Java Web developers. Though limiting Spring to web developers will not do justice to its capability and importance in the Java world.

It is quite as popular in the core Java world as it is for web development, but it was Spring MVC, which initially made Spring framework famous by providing an MVC platform to develop Java web applications, but the actual difference was made by Spring’s dependency Injection idea.

There was a popular MVC framework available when Spring first came into the scene around 2004-05. Struts was the leading web framework at that time, but the simple idea that you don’t need to create an object and manage dependencies helped Spring big time. It not only simplifies the code but also promotes good coding practice, which results in better software.

Btw, if you are just starting with Spring and want to learn the latest version of Spring 6 more interactively, I also suggest you join a comprehensive online Spring course like Spring Framework 6: Beginner to Guru, along with the following one of these books. This provides the best of both worlds, and you will learn quickly and learn better.

6 Best Spring, Spring Boot, and Spring Security Books for Java Developers in 2026

Since most Java developers know that Spring is an important skill, the next step for them is to learn the Spring framework and how to become a star developer by fully utilizing Spring’s capabilities.

1. Spring Start Here: Learn what you need and learn it well

“Spring Start Here” by Laurentiu Spilca is a comprehensive and hands-on guide designed to help Java developers quickly master the expansive Spring ecosystem.

With a high rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars from 51 reviews, this book focuses on core concepts essential for building applications using the Spring framework.

The author, Laurentiu Spilca, is a skilled Java and Spring developer with experience as a technology instructor. He provides a practical and concise approach, teaching readers how to build web applications, manage application objects with Spring context, implement data persistence, exchange data using REST services, and leverage Spring Boot’s convention-over-configuration approach.

The book emphasizes minimizing repetition and manual work, guiding readers through the fundamentals and implementation details, including aspects of Spring AOP.

With an informative table of contents, it covers topics such as Spring Boot, Spring MVC, web scopes, REST services, data sources, transactions, and Spring Data.

The book is suitable for readers with beginning to intermediate Java skills and aims to provide a solid foundation for exploring the rich ecosystem of Spring. Purchasing the print book also includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats.

Whether you are refactoring an existing application or securing projects with Spring Security, “Spring Start Here” is a valuable resource for those embarking on their journey to master Spring, and if you need a course to go along with this book, then you can check Master Spring Boot 3 & Spring Framework 6 with Java by In28Minutes on Udemy.

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2. Spring in Action (6th Edition) by Craig Walls

This is THE Spring book that most Java developers have read in the past to learn the Spring framework. The author Craig Walls is one of the project leads in the Spring Social project and frequently speaks at local user groups and conferences about Spring.

I myself read the older version of Spring in Action to learn the Spring framework. The best part of the book is that it is now updated to cover Spring 5, so you must buy the latest edition of Spring in Action, which is the 5th Edition.

This book will teach you everything about Spring Core and Spring MVC. You will learn the fundamentals and principles of the Spring framework, like DI and IOC, wiring beans, and aspect-oriented programming in Spring.

You will also learn Spring MVC, like developing Java web applications using Spring MVC, rendering web views, advanced Spring MVC, working with Spring flow, and how to secure web applications.

The book also covers Spring’s support for JDBC, messaging, remote method invocation, sending emails using Spring, Web Socket, JMX, and how you can simplify Spring development with Spring Boot.

If you want, you can also combine this book, along with the Spring Boot 3, Spring 6 & Hibernate for Beginners course by Chat Darby on Udemy to learn better and quicker.

In short, this is the best Spring framework book that will teach you the latest features, tools, and practices, including Spring MVC, REST, Security, Web Flow, and more. If you want to read just one book on Spring, this should be it.

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3. Getting Started with Spring Framework 4th edition

This is another one of the best books to learn about the Spring framework. It is a little late entrant on the Spring world, but both authors, J. Sharma and Ashish Sarin, have done a wonderful job of keeping the book updated and relevant even today.

The latest edition, the 3rd one, is updated to cover Spring 4.3 and Java 8. So, it is one of the rare books that includes Spring with Java 8.

The book is full of examples, containing almost 74 sample projects, and the best part of the book is that it shows you how to develop a full-scale Spring application step by step by demonstrating how to develop a simple internet banking application in Java incrementally in each chapter.

This is an excellent example, and quite close to real-world experience, you will get by actually working for any company that uses Spring to develop Java applications.

It covers almost everything with Spring Core and Spring MVC, but doesn’t touch on Spring Batch or Spring Boot, which makes sense because they are not part of the core Spring framework.

It also teaches you how to configure Spring using Java configuration, using annotations for dependency injection, SpEL (Spring expression language), caching using Spring’s cache abstraction, sending and receiving emails, and JSM messages using Spring, aspect-oriented programming, etc.

Though if you want to learn faster, I also recommend you to combine this with an online course like [NEW] Spring Boot 3, Spring 6 & Hibernate for Beginners by Chad Darby on Udemy. Chad is a very experienced and responsive instructor, and he will help you learn Spring Framework better and quickly.

Along with that, you can also learn task scheduling, database interaction using JDBC in Spring, programmatic and declarative transaction management, Spring Data, Spring MVC, Spring Security, and also teach how to develop RESTful Web Services using Spring.

In short, certainly one of the best and most complete books on the Spring framework, highly recommended to Java developers, both beginners and intermediates.

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4. Spring Boot in Action

This is another great book by Craig Walls, which will help you learn the Spring framework faster. The initial trouble with Spring was so much configuration, and you often get lost on that until you have someone who can help you with those nasty configurations, particularly the XML ones.

Spring Boot made developing Spring applications a lot easier; hence, it makes learning Spring simpler.

Spring Boot in Action is a useful guide on writing Java applications using Spring Boot. It will teach you how to avoid tedious configuration to focus more on application development rather than dealing with framework nuisance.

The book will also teach you testing with Spring Boot, which is a very important concept. You can also combine this book with a comprehensive Spring Boot course like The Complete Spring Boot Development Bootcamp by Jose Portilla and Rayan Slim on Udemy.

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5. Spring Batch in Action

If you have worked on enterprise Java applications like Trading application GUIs or E-commerce projects, you know how important and common it is to run batch applications.

Even though batch jobs are so common, there were no standard ways to develop them; Spring batch filled that gap.

It provides a reusable component and a solid runtime environment to write batch jobs. Since it uses Spring’s popular and well-known programming model to simplify configuration and implementation, comfortable for many Java developers.

The Spring Batch in Action book provides you with everything you need to write batch jobs. It’s an in-depth guide to the Spring Batch project. It teaches you how to monitor, tune, and test batch jobs with lots of practical examples.

And, if you need a course, you can also combine this book with the Batch Processing with Spring Batch & Spring Boot course on Udemy. This combination of book and course works really well to learn Spring Batch.

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6. Spring Security in Action 2nd Edition

One of the things any Java developer really likes to improve is their understanding of security in the web application. I have interviewed so many experienced developers not know much about common security exploits like SQL injection, Cross-site scripting, session hijacking, etc.

If you are a Java developer who is familiar with Spring and you are looking to explore its security features, then this book is for you. Created by Laurentiu Spilca, this is the most up-to-date course on Spring Security and also covers OAuth2 and JWT.

All beginners and experienced Java developers will benefit from this Spring Security Essentials since it explores both the theory and practical usage in detail.

You can also benefit a lot from reading this book and joining one of the comprehensive Spring Security training courses from Eugen Paraschiv or online portals like Udemy or Coursera.

Good knowledge of Security also gives you an edge in job interviews, so I highly recommend improving your understanding of web security and how to implement it using the Spring Security framework in Java.

Obviously, you have to code, and you have to talk to people who are using it already, but before you do, you must know some fundamentals, and these Spring framework books will help you there.

Once you learn the fundamentals, you can take advanced Spring training courses like REST with Spring or the Learn Spring Security courses to learn more practical skills and get some hands-on practice.

That’s all about some of the best books to learn Spring framework, Spring Boot, Spring Batch, and Spring Security in 2026. As I said, Spring is an essential skill for a Java developer, especially a Java web developer, and it opens more job opportunities in the application development space.

It also helps in your current job because you can deliver your solutions more easily and quickly, and can maintain and support them better.

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these Spring Framework books, then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop a note.

P.S. - Books are also great for self-learning, but if you are someone who learns more from an online course or training, then you can also take a look at the Learn Spring: The Master Class course by Eugen Paraschiv of Baeldung. One of the better courses to learn Spring 6 and Spring Boot 6 from scratch, in a guided, code-focused way.