I would like to contribute to the source code, but first I need to open it in IDE. I have questions:

  1. Which IDE and any plugins would you recommend?
  2. Are there any instructions? I struggle to find any, it seems like all the reference docs focus on how to use spring, not how to use its sources
  3. I prefer Intellij IDEA and trying to import the entire gradle project but it takes so long...

Comment From: mhalbritter

There's something on this wiki page: https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/wiki/Working-with-the-Code. Hope this helps.

For an overview of the modules, there's something in the readme.

I prefer Intellij IDEA and trying to import the entire gradle project but it takes so long...

Spring Boot is a big codebase, and depending on your machine specs importing can take a while.