sisvietnamvn_01/sisvietnamvn_main/PROJECT_KNOWLEDGE.md

Project Knowledge Base

Overview

This project is a web application built using Java, Spring Boot, and Thymeleaf. It serves as the frontend layer for sisvietnamvn, currently rendering static-like pages with dynamic templating provided by Thymeleaf. The static assets seem to be heavily inspired by or imported from UMass Amherst website templates, integrated into a Spring Boot architecture.

System Architecture

• Language: Java 21
• Framework: Spring Boot (Version 4.0.6 as per build.gradle)
• Build Tool: Gradle
• Application Type: Spring Web MVC application
• Routing: Basic MVC routing handled by @Controller classes. Currently, HomeController.java maps endpoints to Thymeleaf templates:
  • / -> index.html
  • /about -> about.html
  • /flex-finish -> flex-finish.html

Directory Structure

The structure strictly adheres to standard Maven/Gradle Spring Boot conventions:

• build.gradle / settings.gradle: Gradle configuration files defining dependencies and build settings.
• src/main/java/com/sisvietnamvn/web/: Contains Java source code.
  • SisvietnamvnApplication.java: Main Spring Boot entry point.
  • controller/HomeController.java: Web controller managing page routing.
• src/main/resources/: Contains configuration and web assets.
  • application.properties: Spring Boot configuration properties.
  • static/: Stores all static assets (CSS, JS, Images). Assets are organized into subdirectories like css/, images/, js/, and specific page folders like flex-finish/ and UMass Amherst _ UMass Amherst_files/.
  • templates/: Contains Thymeleaf .html view templates.
    • fragments/: Contains reusable Thymeleaf layout components (layout.html, header.html, footer.html).

Libraries and Dependencies

• Spring Boot Starter Web (spring-boot-starter-webmvc): For building web, including RESTful, applications using Spring MVC.
• Spring Boot Starter Thymeleaf (spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf): For HTML templating.
• Thymeleaf Layout Dialect (nz.net.ultraq.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-layout-dialect): Provides decorator pattern for Thymeleaf, allowing the use of a common layout (layout.html) that other pages inject content into.
• Spring Boot DevTools (spring-boot-devtools): For fast application restarts and live reload during development.
• Frontend Libraries:
  • jQuery (jquery.min.js)
  • Lazysizes (lazysizes.min.js) for lazy loading images.
  • Various Lottie scripts and custom scripts copied into static folders.

Coding Conventions & Best Practices

1. Templating & Layouts: The project relies on the Thymeleaf Layout Dialect. Pages should define their content within a layout:fragment="content" block and reference the master layout (layout.html). Reusable parts (like headers/footers) are stored in the fragments folder and included via th:replace.
2. Asset Management: Static assets (CSS, images, JS) are referenced via absolute paths starting from the root / (e.g., <script src="/Undergraduate Study _ UMass Amherst_files/base.js.download"></script>). This relies on Spring Boot's default static resource mapping.
3. Controllers: Keep controllers lightweight. Endpoints should generally just return the template name as a String.
4. Language Level: The project uses Java 21, allowing for modern Java features (records, pattern matching, etc.) if backend logic is expanded in the future.