Starters are curated dependency bundles that pull in the typical libraries (and compatible versions) for a feature. For example spring-boot-starter-web adds Spring MVC, Jackson and an embedded server. They simplify setup and work with auto‑configuration.
Expanding on the short answer — what usually matters in practice:
A tiny example (an explanation template):
// Example: discuss trade-offs for "what-are-spring-boot-starters?"
function explain() {
// Start from the core idea:
// Dependency sets that simplify build configuration by grouping common libraries for specifi
}