How to Configure a React Application to Be Served with a Spring Boot Backend

How can I configure my React application to be served from a Spring Boot application?

// Sample Spring Boot Controller to serve React app
@RestController
public class HomeController {
    @RequestMapping(value = "/{path:[^\.]*}", method = RequestMethod.GET)
    public String redirect() {
        return "forward:/index.html";
    }
}

Integrating a React application with a Spring Boot backend involves setting up your environment correctly so that both applications can work seamlessly together. Typically, you'll want to build your React app and serve the static files through your Spring Boot application to simplify deployment.

// Spring Boot application properties
server.port=8080
spring.web.resources.static-locations=classpath:/static/

Causes

• Not setting up the proper build configuration in the React app.
• Improper routing setup in the Spring Boot backend.
• Missing dependencies like Spring Web.
• Incorrect file paths in the React build configuration.

Solutions

• Create a production build of the React app using 'npm run build'.
• Place the contents of the React build folder (usually 'build') into 'src/main/resources/static' in your Spring Boot project.
• Ensure the Spring Boot application is configured to serve static content by default.
• Set up a controller to handle routes that are not caught by Spring Boot, redirecting them to the React app.

Mistake: Forgetting to build the React app before deployment.

Solution: Always run 'npm run build' to create a production-ready build.

Mistake: Not adjusting Spring Boot's resource handling configuration.

Solution: Ensure static resource handling is correctly set up in your Spring Boot configuration.

Mistake: Confusing API routes with React routes.

Solution: Make sure to differentiate between your API endpoints and the React application routes.