Can't add dependency to pom.xml file - spring

Question

I am following a Springboot tutorial on a website I found. The site tells us to add various dependencies to our pom.xml file. I added the web and thymeleaf dependencies through the Spring Initializr. Hwoever, I realized that I forgot to add the security dependency. When I try to edit my code and add the security dependency by typing:
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-webflux</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>io.projectreactor</groupId>
<artifactId>reactor-test</artifactId>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>

Answer 1

You should either inherit your project from spring-boot-starter-parent:
<parent>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
<version>2.1.7.RELEASE</version>
</parent>
The parent project provides the following features:
Java 1.8 as the default compiler level.
UTF-8 source encoding.
A Dependency Management section, inherited from the spring-boot-dependencies pom, that manages the versions of common dependencies. This dependency management lets you omit <version> tags for those dependencies when used in your own pom.
An execution of the repackage goal with a repackage execution id.
Sensible resource filtering.
Sensible plugin configuration (exec plugin, Git commit ID, and shade).
Sensible resource filtering for application.properties and application.yml including profile-specific files (for example, application-dev.properties and application-dev.yml)
Or use the spring-boot-dependencies BOM:
<dependencyManagement>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<!-- Import dependency management from Spring Boot -->
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-dependencies</artifactId>
<version>2.1.7.RELEASE</version>
<type>pom</type>
<scope>import</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>
Using the BOM is the way to go when you would not like to inherit from the spring-boot-starter-parent POM. You may have your own corporate standard parent that you need to use or you may prefer to explicitly declare all your Maven configuration. You would still keep the benefit of the dependency management, but not the plugin management.
Both solutions will allow you to omit versions of Spring dependencies.