Polish README

See gh-24981

Author: vladdoster

README.adoc

@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ We also provide a command line tool that runs spring scripts.
 Our primary goals are:
 
 * Provide a radically faster and widely accessible getting started experience for all Spring development.
-* Be opinionated out of the box, but get out of the way quickly as requirements start to diverge from the defaults.
-* Provide a range of non-functional features that are common to large classes of projects (e.g. embedded servers, security, metrics, health checks, externalized configuration).
+* Be opinionated, but get out of the way quickly as requirements start to diverge from the defaults.
+* Provide a range of non-functional features common to large classes of projects (for example, embedded servers, security, metrics, health checks, externalized configuration).
 * Absolutely no code generation and no requirement for XML configuration.
 
 
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ Here is a quick teaser of a complete Spring Boot application in Java:
 
 
 == Getting help
-Having trouble with Spring Boot? We'd like to help!
+Are you having trouble with Spring Boot? We want to help!
 
 * Check the {docs}/html/[reference documentation], especially the {docs}/html/howto.html#howto[How-to's] -- they provide solutions to the most common questions.
-* Learn the Spring basics -- Spring Boot builds on many other Spring projects, check the https://spring.io[spring.io] web-site for a wealth of reference documentation.
-  If you are just starting out with Spring, try one of the https://spring.io/guides[guides].
+* Learn the Spring basics -- Spring Boot builds on many other Spring projects; check the https://spring.io[spring.io] web-site for a wealth of reference documentation.
+  If you are new to Spring, try one of the https://spring.io/guides[guides].
 * If you are upgrading, read the {github}/wiki[release notes] for upgrade instructions and "new and noteworthy" features.
 * Ask a question - we monitor https://stackoverflow.com[stackoverflow.com] for questions tagged with https://stackoverflow.com/tags/spring-boot[`spring-boot`].
   You can also chat with the community on https://gitter.im/spring-projects/spring-boot[Gitter].
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ If you want to raise an issue, please follow the recommendations below:
 
 * Before you log a bug, please search the {github}/issues[issue tracker] to see if someone has already reported the problem.
 * If the issue doesn't already exist, {github}/issues/new[create a new issue].
-* Please provide as much information as possible with the issue report, we like to know the version of Spring Boot that you are using, as well as your Operating System and JVM version.
-* If you need to paste code, or include a stack trace use Markdown +++```+++ escapes before and after your text.
-* If possible try to create a test-case or project that replicates the problem and attach it to the issue.
+* Please provide as much information as possible with the issue report. We like to know the Spring Boot version, operating system, and JVM version you're using.
+* If you need to paste code or include a stack trace, use Markdown. +++```+++ escapes before and after your text.
+* If possible, try to create a test-case or project that replicates the problem and attach it to the issue.
 
 
 
@@ -89,26 +89,24 @@ If you want to build everything, use the `build` task:
 	$ ./gradlew build
 ----
 
-
-
 == Modules
-There are a number of modules in Spring Boot, here is a quick overview:
+There are several modules in Spring Boot. Here is a quick overview:
 
 
 
 === spring-boot
-The main library providing features that support the other parts of Spring Boot, these include:
+The main library providing features that support the other parts of Spring Boot. These include:
 
 * The `SpringApplication` class, providing static convenience methods that can be used to write a stand-alone Spring Application.
   Its sole job is to create and refresh an appropriate Spring `ApplicationContext`.
-* Embedded web applications with a choice of container (Tomcat, Jetty or Undertow).
+* Embedded web applications with a choice of container (Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow).
 * First class externalized configuration support,
 * Convenience `ApplicationContext` initializers, including support for sensible logging defaults.
 
 
 
 === spring-boot-autoconfigure
-Spring Boot can configure large parts of common applications based on the content of their classpath.
+Spring Boot can configure large parts of typical applications based on the content of their classpath.
 A single `@EnableAutoConfiguration` annotation triggers auto-configuration of the Spring context.
 
 Auto-configuration attempts to deduce which beans a user might need. For example, if `HSQLDB` is on the classpath, and the user has not configured any database connections, then they probably want an in-memory database to be defined.
@@ -118,13 +116,13 @@ Auto-configuration will always back away as the user starts to define their own
 
 === spring-boot-starters
 Starters are a set of convenient dependency descriptors that you can include in your application.
-You get a one-stop-shop for all the Spring and related technology that you need without having to hunt through sample code and copy paste loads of dependency descriptors.
-For example, if you want to get started using Spring and JPA for database access include the `spring-boot-starter-data-jpa` dependency in your project, and you are good to go.
+You get a one-stop-shop for all the Spring and related technology you need without having to hunt through sample code and copy paste loads of dependency descriptors.
+For example, if you want to get started using Spring and JPA for database access, include the `spring-boot-starter-data-jpa` dependency in your project, and you are good to go.
 
 
 
 === spring-boot-cli
-The Spring command line application compiles and runs Groovy source, allowing you to write the absolute minimum of code to get an application running.
+The Spring command line application compiles and runs Groovy source, allowing you to write the absolute minimum amount of code to get an application running.
 Spring CLI can also watch files, automatically recompiling and restarting when they change.
 
 
@@ -133,7 +131,7 @@ Spring CLI can also watch files, automatically recompiling and restarting when t
 Actuator endpoints let you monitor and interact with your application.
 Spring Boot Actuator provides the infrastructure required for actuator endpoints.
 It contains annotation support for actuator endpoints.
-Out of the box, this module provides a number of endpoints including the `HealthEndpoint`, `EnvironmentEndpoint`, `BeansEndpoint` and many more.
+This module provides many endpoints, including the `HealthEndpoint`, `EnvironmentEndpoint`, `BeansEndpoint`, and many more.
 
 
 
@@ -151,8 +149,8 @@ This module contains core items and annotations that can be helpful when testing
 
 
 === spring-boot-test-autoconfigure
-Like other Spring Boot auto-configuration modules, spring-boot-test-autoconfigure, provides auto-configuration for tests based on the classpath.
-It includes a number of annotations that can be used to automatically configure a slice of your application that needs to be tested.
+Like other Spring Boot auto-configuration modules, spring-boot-test-autoconfigure provides auto-configuration for tests based on the classpath.
+It includes many annotations that can automatically configure a slice of your application that needs to be tested.
 
 
 
@@ -163,21 +161,21 @@ Generally you will not need to use `spring-boot-loader` directly, but instead wo
 
 
 === spring-boot-devtools
-The spring-boot-devtools module provides additional development-time features such as automatic restarts, for a smoother application development experience.
+The spring-boot-devtools module provides additional development-time features, such as automatic restarts, for a smoother application development experience.
 Developer tools are automatically disabled when running a fully packaged application.
 
 
 
 == Samples
 Groovy samples for use with the command line application are available in link:spring-boot-project/spring-boot-cli/samples[spring-boot-cli/samples].
-To run the CLI samples type `spring run <sample>.groovy` from samples directory.
+To run the CLI samples, type `spring run <sample>.groovy` from the samples directory.
 
 
 
 == Guides
 The https://spring.io/[spring.io] site contains several guides that show how to use Spring Boot step-by-step:
 
-* https://spring.io/guides/gs/spring-boot/[Building an Application with Spring Boot] is a very basic guide that shows you how to create an application, run it and add some management services.
+* https://spring.io/guides/gs/spring-boot/[Building an Application with Spring Boot] is an introductory guide that shows you how to create an application, run it, and add some management services.
 * https://spring.io/guides/gs/actuator-service/[Building a RESTful Web Service with Spring Boot Actuator] is a guide to creating a REST web service and also shows how the server can be configured.
 * https://spring.io/guides/gs/convert-jar-to-war/[Converting a Spring Boot JAR Application to a WAR] shows you how to run applications in a web server as a WAR file.