When documenting APIs using Java Spring REST Docs, adding code examples and snippets can greatly enhance the clarity and understanding of your documentation. These examples help users to quickly grasp the usage and implementation details of different API endpoints.

Code Blocks in Markdown

Markdown provides an easy and readable way to include code blocks in your documentation. To add a code block, simply wrap the code within three backticks (```) with the programming language specified right after the initial three backticks. For Java code examples, use “java” as the language identifier.

Here’s an example of how to include a code block in Markdown:

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/users")
public class UserController {
    
    @GetMapping("/{id}")
    public ResponseEntity<User> getUserById(@PathVariable Long id) {
        // Code to get user by id
    }

    @PostMapping
    public ResponseEntity<User> createUser(@RequestBody User user) {
        // Code to create a new user
    }
}

Make sure to replace the example above with actual relevant code snippets from your API implementation.

Using Code Snippets in Java Spring REST Docs

Java Spring REST Docs provides additional features to generate code snippets automatically from your API tests. These code snippets can be added to your documentation to provide real examples of how to use your API endpoints.

To generate code snippets in Java Spring REST Docs, you can use the snippet() method provided by the library. For example:

@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
@SpringBootTest
@AutoConfigureMockMvc
public class UserControllerTests {

    @Autowired
    private MockMvc mockMvc;

    @Test
    public void shouldRetrieveUserById() throws Exception {
        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/users/1"))
                .andExpect(status().isOk())
                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.id", is(1)))
                .andExpect(jsonPath("$.name", is("John Doe")))
                .andDo(document("user-get-by-id",
                        snippetResponse(),
                        pathParameters(parameterWithName("id").description("User ID"))));
    }

    @Test
    public void shouldCreateUser() throws Exception {
        User user = new User("Jane Smith");

        mockMvc.perform(post("/api/users")
                .content(asJsonString(user))
                .contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON))
                .andExpect(status().isCreated())
                .andDo(document("user-create",
                        snippetRequest(),
                        requestFields(
                                fieldWithPath("name").description("User's name"))));
    }
}

In the above example, snippetResponse() and snippetRequest() are used to generate code snippets for the HTTP response and request respectively. The document() method is used to specify a name for the generated snippet.

These code snippets, along with the relevant explanation, can be added to your API documentation to provide real-world usage examples for your endpoints.

Using code examples and snippets in your Java Spring REST Docs documentation will help your users better understand your API and facilitate the integration process.

#java #springrest