Spring Boot classpath

Question

In the Spring Boot\'s docs here, about serving static content, it says:

By default Spring Boot will serve static content from a directory called /static

Answer 1

The classpath also contains additional libraries (JARs), which also can have a static folder, which would then be included for serving static resources. So if the documentation would only state the folder src/main/resources/static, it would be incomplete.

Ad 2: As long as you don't mess with the default Maven configuration, then it's safe to assume this.

Ad 3: Maybe start with the official Oracle documentation: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/windows/classpath.html. Hint: Of course, it's not only the contents of the resources folder, which are in the classpath, but also of course all compiled classes, hence its name.

Answer 2

/src/main/resources is a Maven project structure convention. It's a path inside your project where you place resources. During the build step, Maven will take files in there and place them in the appropriate place for you to use them in your runtime classpath, eg in an executable .jar, some physical file system location used in the classpath (with java's -cp option), etc.

I could choose to build my application myself or with a different build tool. In such a case, /src/main/resources would not exist. However, the intention is for the classpath to be the same, ie. to contain the same resources and .class files.

The Spring boot documentation talks about the classpath because it shouldn't make assumptions about how your project is set up.