Spring MVC CRUD refers to implementing Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations in a web application using the Spring MVC framework. It follows the MVC pattern to separate concerns and efficiently manage data through controllers, services, and views.
- Uses Controller, Service, and Repository layers to handle application flow
- Integrates with databases using Spring Data JPA or JDBC
- Supports dynamic UI rendering using view technologies like JSP or Thymeleaf
Real-world example: In a Student Management System, administrators can add new students, view the list of students, update student details, and delete student records. These operations are handled using Spring MVC controllers, services, and views to manage student data efficiently.
CRUD Example of Spring MVC
Below down are the steps to create a simple course-tracking CRUD application focused on the Spring MVC module.
Step 1: Create Spring Boot Project
Create a Spring Boot project using Spring Initializr with required dependencies.
- Choose Spring Boot project (Maven/Gradle)
- Add dependencies: Spring Web, Spring Data JPA, Thymeleaf, Lombok
- Import project into IDE (STS/IntelliJ/Eclipse)
The project structure for the Spring MVC application is as follows:

Step 2: Add Dependencies
Add required dependencies in build.gradle.
- Include
spring-boot-starter-web,spring-boot-starter-data-jpa - Add Thymeleaf for UI rendering
- Add H2/MySQL database dependency
dependencies {
implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa'
implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf'
implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web'
implementation 'org.projectlombok:lombok:1.18.20'
developmentOnly 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-devtools'
runtimeOnly 'com.h2database:h2'
runtimeOnly 'mysql:mysql-connector-java'
testImplementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test'
}
Step 3: Create Model Layer
Create an entity class Course using JPA annotations.
- Use
@Entityand@Table - Define primary key with
@Id - Use Lombok annotations like
@Data
import lombok.*;
import javax.persistence.*;
@NoArgsConstructor
@AllArgsConstructor
@Data
@Entity
@Table(name = "courses")
public class Course {
@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
private Long id;
@Column(name = "course_name")
private String courseName;
@Column(name = "instructor")
private String instructor;
@Column(name = "email")
private String email;
}
Step 4: Create Repository Layer
Create a repository interface extending JpaRepository.
- Extend JpaRepository<Course, Long>
- No implementation required
- Supports CRUD, pagination, and sorting
import com.example.testing_001.model.Course;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
@Repository
public interface CourseRepository extends JpaRepository<Course, Long> {
}
Step 5: Create Service Layer
Define service interface and implement it.
- Create CourseService interface
- Implement in CourseServiceImpl
- Use @Service and @Autowired
import com.example.testing_001.model.Course;
import java.util.List;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
public interface CourseService {
List<Course> getAllCourses();
void saveCourse(Course course);
Course getCourseById(long id);
void deleteCourseById(long id);
Page<Course> findPaginated(int pageNum, int pageSize,
String sortField,
String sortDirection);
}
Service Implemetation: CourseServiceImpl
The class CourseServiceImpl implements the CourseService interface and provides us with all the CRUD operations logic which is our business logic here.
import com.example.testing_001.model.Course;
import com.example.testing_001.repository.CourseRepository;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
import org.springframework.data.domain.PageRequest;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Pageable;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Sort;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Optional;
@Service
public class CourseServiceImpl implements CourseService{
@Autowired
private CourseRepository courseRepository;
@Override
public List<Course> getAllCourses() {
return courseRepository.findAll();
}
@Override
public void saveCourse(Course course) {
this.courseRepository.save(course);
}
@Override
public Course getCourseById(long id) {
Optional<Course> optionalCourse = courseRepository.findById(id);
Course course = null;
if (optionalCourse.isPresent()) {
course = optionalCourse.get();
} else {
throw new RuntimeException("Course not found for id : " + id);
}
return course;
}
@Override
public void deleteCourseById(long id) {
this.courseRepository.deleteById(id);
}
@Override
public Page<Course> findPaginated(int pageNum, int pageSize, String sortField, String sortDirection) {
Sort sort = sortDirection.equalsIgnoreCase(Sort.Direction.ASC.name()) ? Sort.by(sortField).ascending() :
Sort.by(sortField).descending();
Pageable pageable = PageRequest.of(pageNum - 1, pageSize, sort);
return this.courseRepository.findAll(pageable);
}
}
Step 6: Create Controller Layer
Create a controller class to handle requests.
- Use
@Controllerannotation - Map requests using
@GetMapping,@PostMapping - Use
Modelto pass data
import com.example.testing_001.model.Course;
import com.example.testing_001.service.CourseService;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.*;
import java.util.List;
@Controller
public class CourseController {
@Autowired
private CourseService courseService;
@GetMapping("/")
public String viewHomePage(Model model) {
return findPaginated(1, "courseName", "asc", model);
}
@GetMapping("/add")
public String showNewCourseForm(Model model) {
Course Course = new Course();
model.addAttribute("course", Course);
return "new_course";
}
@PostMapping("/save")
public String saveCourse(@ModelAttribute("course") Course course) {
// save Course to database
courseService.saveCourse(course);
return "redirect:/";
}
@GetMapping("/update/{id}")
public String showFormForUpdate(@PathVariable( value = "id") long id, Model model) {
Course course = courseService.getCourseById(id);
model.addAttribute("course", course);
return "update_course";
}
@GetMapping("/delete/{id}")
public String deleteCourse(@PathVariable (value = "id") long id) {
this.courseService.deleteCourseById(id);
return "redirect:/";
}
@GetMapping("/page/{pageNo}")
public String findPaginated(@PathVariable (value = "pageNo") int pageNo,
@RequestParam("sortField") String sortField,
@RequestParam("sortDir") String sortDir,
Model model) {
int pageSize = 5;
Page<Course> page = courseService.findPaginated(pageNo, pageSize, sortField, sortDir);
List<Course> listCourses = page.getContent();
model.addAttribute("currentPage", pageNo);
model.addAttribute("totalPages", page.getTotalPages());
model.addAttribute("totalItems", page.getTotalElements());
model.addAttribute("sortField", sortField);
model.addAttribute("sortDir", sortDir);
model.addAttribute("reverseSortDir", sortDir.equals("asc") ? "desc" : "asc");
model.addAttribute("listCourses", listCourses);
return "index";
}
}
Note: Change the GET mapping for course update and delete course to PUT mapping and DELETE mapping respectively. It is considered best practice to use mappings based on the functionality of the api.
Step 7: Create Thymeleaf Views
Create HTML templates for UI.
- Create pages:
index.html,new_course.html,update_course.html - Use
th:text,th:each,th:href - Implement forms for add/update
Home page:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" xmlns:th="https://www.thymeleaf.org/">
<head>
<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
<title>Course Tracker</title>
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.min.css"
integrity="sha384-MCw98/SFnGE8fJT3GXwEOngsV7Zt27NXFoaoApmYm81iuXoPkFOJwJ8ERdknLPMO"
crossorigin="anonymous">
</head>
<body>
<div class="container my-2">
<h1>Courses List</h1>
<a th:href = "@{/add}" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm mb-3"> Add Course </a>
<table border="1" class = "table table-striped table-responsive-md">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>
<a th:href="@{'/page/' + ${currentPage} + '?sortField=courseName&sortDir=' + ${reverseSortDir}}">
Course Name</a>
</th>
<th>
<a th:href="@{'/page/' + ${currentPage} + '?sortField=instructor&sortDir=' + ${reverseSortDir}}">
Course Instructor</a>
</th>
<th>
<a th:href="@{'/page/' + ${currentPage} + '?sortField=email&sortDir=' + ${reverseSortDir}}">
Course Email</a>
</th>
<th> Actions </th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr th:each="course : ${listCourses}">
<td th:text="${course.courseName}"></td>
<td th:text="${course.instructor}"></td>
<td th:text="${course.email}"></td>
<td> <a th:href="@{/update/{id}(id=${course.id})}" class="btn btn-primary">Update</a>
<a th:href="@{/delete/{id}(id=${course.id})}" class="btn btn-danger">Delete</a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div th:if = "${totalPages > 1}">
<div class = "row col-sm-10">
<div class = "col-sm-5">
Total Rows: [[${totalItems}]]
</div>
<div class = "col-sm-3">
<span th:each="i: ${#numbers.sequence(1, totalPages)}">
<a th:if="${currentPage != i}" th:href="@{'/page/' + ${i}+ '?sortField=' + ${sortField} + '&sortDir=' + ${sortDir}}">[[${i}]]</a>
<span th:unless="${currentPage != i}">[[${i}]]</span>
</span>
</div>
<div class = "col-sm-1">
<a th:if="${currentPage < totalPages}" th:href="@{'/page/' + ${currentPage + 1}+ '?sortField=' + ${sortField} + '&sortDir=' + ${sortDir}}">Next</a>
<span th:unless="${currentPage < totalPages}">Next</span>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-1">
<a th:if="${currentPage < totalPages}" th:href="@{'/page/' + ${totalPages}+ '?sortField=' + ${sortField} + '&sortDir=' + ${sortDir}}">Last</a>
<span th:unless="${currentPage < totalPages}">Last</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Add course page:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" xmlns:th="https://www.thymeleaf.org/">
<head>
<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
<title>Course </title>
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.min.css"
integrity="sha384-MCw98/SFnGE8fJT3GXwEOngsV7Zt27NXFoaoApmYm81iuXoPkFOJwJ8ERdknLPMO"
crossorigin="anonymous">
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<h1>Course Tracker</h1>
<hr>
<h2>Save Course</h2>
<form action="#" th:action="@{/save}" th:object="${course}"
method="POST">
<input type="text" th:field="*{courseName}"
placeholder="Course Name" class="form-control mb-4 col-4">
<input type="text" th:field="*{instructor}"
placeholder="Instructor Name" class="form-control mb-4 col-4">
<input type="text" th:field="*{email}"
placeholder="Course Email" class="form-control mb-4 col-4">
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-info col-2"> Save Course</button>
</form>
<hr>
<a th:href = "@{/}"> Back to Course List</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Update course page:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" xmlns:th="https://www.thymeleaf.org/">
<head>
<meta charset="ISO-8859-1">
<title>Course Tracker</title>
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.min.css">
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<h1>Course Tracker</h1>
<hr>
<h2>Update Course</h2>
<form action="#" th:action="@{/save}" th:object="${course}"
method="POST">
<!-- Add hidden form field to handle update -->
<input type="hidden" th:field="*{id}" />
<input type="text" th:field="*{courseName}" class="form-control mb-4 col-4" placeholder="Course name">
<input type="text" th:field="*{instructor}" class="form-control mb-4 col-4" placeholder="Course instructor">
<input type="text" th:field="*{email}" class="form-control mb-4 col-4" placeholder="Email">
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-info col-2"> Update Course</button>
</form>
<hr>
<a th:href = "@{/}"> Back to Course List</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Step 8: Test the CRUD Operations
1. Creating a course:

2. Reading courses:


3. Updating course:

4. Course updated successfully:

5. Deleting course:
