Spring Boot DevTools (https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/html/using-boot-devtools.html) enables Spring Boot applications to reload the embedded server when there is a change in the classpath. It states the following—The aim of this module is to try and improve the development-time experience when working on Spring Boot applications, and it does exactly that. It uses a custom classloader to restart the application when a class is updated and recompiled, and since the server is hot reloaded it is much faster than a cold restart.
It isn't as cool as JRebel or similar technologies, which do instant reload, but it beats doing it manually and doesn't require any extra configuration to enable it.
JHipster DevTools is automatically enabled in the dev profile, using an IDE that can automatically recompile classes on saving. The DevTools will ensure the application is reloaded and up to date. Since Liquibase is used, any schema updates using proper changelogs will also get updated. Make sure not to change existing changelogs as it will cause a checksum error. Application reloads can also be triggered by simply using the commands mvnw compile or gradlew compileJava depending on the build tool used.