Input Validation & Error Handling
Implement data validation for incoming requests and create global exception handlers for robust error management.
Why Validate API Inputs?
When building RESTful APIs, receiving data from clients is common. But what if that data isn't quite right?
Input validation is the process of ensuring that the data your API receives conforms to expected rules and formats before it's processed. It's crucial for:
- Data Integrity: Ensuring only valid data enters your system.
- Security: Preventing malicious inputs (like SQL injection or XSS).
- Reliability: Avoiding unexpected errors and crashes in your application.
Bean Validation Basics
Spring Boot makes validation easy by integrating with the Jakarta Bean Validation API (JSR 380). This standard provides a set of annotations you can use to define validation rules directly on your data objects.
When Spring processes a request with a validated object, it automatically checks these rules. If any rule is violated, it flags an error.
All lessons in this course
- Creating REST Controllers
- Handling HTTP Requests & Responses
- Input Validation & Error Handling
- Documenting REST APIs with OpenAPI and Swagger