Building a Full-Stack Java Project with Spring Boot & React

One complete, well-built project teaches you more than a dozen tutorials. Here is how I approach a full-stack Java application with Spring Boot on the back end and React on the front.

The architecture

A clean separation pays off:

• Front end: React (or Next.js) for the UI, talking to the API over HTTP.
• Back end: Spring Boot exposing a REST API.
• Database: PostgreSQL, accessed through Spring Data JPA / Hibernate.
• Auth: JWT-based authentication, with Spring Security guarding the endpoints.

Designing the API

Start from the data and the use cases. Model your entities, define DTOs so you never leak your database shape to clients, and keep controllers thin — business logic belongs in services. Follow solid REST API best practices for status codes, validation, and error handling.

Authentication done right

Issue a JWT on login, validate it in a filter, and keep tokens short-lived. While debugging, a JWT decoder is invaluable for inspecting what is actually in your token.

Connecting the front end

The React app stores the token, attaches it to requests, and handles loading and error states gracefully. Type your API responses — paste a sample into a JSON-to-TypeScript tool to generate interfaces in seconds.

Ship it

Containerize with Docker, deploy the API and database, and host the front end on a platform like Vercel. A live URL turns a project into a portfolio piece.

See full builds like this on my projects page — and if you are interviewing soon, this is exactly the kind of project they love to discuss.