What is Thymeleaf?
So you want to learn Thymeleaf. Great choice! Thymeleaf is a server-side Java template engine that works beautifully with Spring Boot. Think of it as a way to write HTML that can also be processed by the server.
The magic of Thymeleaf is that your templates are "natural." That means you can open them in a browser and they look like normal HTML. No weird placeholders or special syntax that breaks your layout. The server just adds extra data when it processes them.
Natural Templates
Here's a normal HTML file that Thymeleaf can process. Notice the th:text attribute — the browser ignores it, but Thymeleaf reads it on the server.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org">
<body>
<h1 th:text="${title}">Default Title</h1>
<p>This paragraph always shows.</p>
</body>
</html>
Open this file in a browser and you'll see "Default Title." Run it through Thymeleaf and the server replaces it with the value of title. That's the "natural template" concept in action.
Works with Spring Boot
Thymeleaf is the recommended template engine for Spring Boot. It integrates so seamlessly that you barely need any configuration. Spring Boot handles the setup — you just write your templates.
You can use Thymeleaf for HTML5, XHTML, or even XML. It supports all of them. So whether you're building a simple website or a complex enterprise app, Thymeleaf has you covered.
Try it Yourself →Why Thymeleaf?
There are many template engines out there, so why choose Thymeleaf? Here's why developers love it:
It produces valid HTML by default. Designers can preview templates in a browser without a server. It works with Spring Security for securing pages. And the expression language is powerful but easy to learn. Trust me, once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder how you ever worked without it.