diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2af7cef..ff29930 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,4 +21,5 @@ build/
 nbbuild/
 dist/
 nbdist/
-.nb-gradle/
\ No newline at end of file
+.nb-gradle/
+.elasticbeanstalk
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index ecdc1c8..dd07c08 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Build Restful CRUD API for a simple Note-Taking application using Spring Boot, M
 **1. Clone the application**
 
 ```bash
-git@github.com:callicoder/spring-boot-mysql-rest-api-tutorial.git
+git clone https://github.com/callicoder/spring-boot-mysql-rest-api-tutorial.git
 ```
 
 **2. Create Mysql database**
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ create database notes_app
 
 + change `spring.datasource.username` and `spring.datasource.password` as per your mysql installation
 
-**2. Build and run the app using maven**
+**4. Build and run the app using maven**
 
 ```bash
 mvn package
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 19f9a8a..baec0d9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@
 	<parent>
 		<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 		<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
-		<version>1.5.4.RELEASE</version>
+		<version>2.5.5</version>
 		<relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
 	</parent>
 
 	<properties>
 		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
 		<project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
-		<java.version>1.8</java.version>
+		<java.version>11</java.version>
 	</properties>
 
 	<dependencies>
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@
 			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
-
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
+		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/IndexController.java b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/IndexController.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9c5ea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/IndexController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package com.example.easynotes.controller;
+
+
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
+
+@RestController
+@RequestMapping("/")
+public class IndexController {
+
+    @GetMapping
+    public String sayHello() {
+        return "Hello and Welcome to the EasyNotes application. You can create a new Note by making a POST request to /api/notes endpoint.";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/NoteController.java b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/NoteController.java
index c3663d8..52f2ef0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/NoteController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/controller/NoteController.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.example.easynotes.controller;
 
+import com.example.easynotes.exception.ResourceNotFoundException;
 import com.example.easynotes.model.Note;
 import com.example.easynotes.repository.NoteRepository;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
@@ -24,42 +25,38 @@ public List<Note> getAllNotes() {
         return noteRepository.findAll();
     }
 
-    @GetMapping("/notes/{id}")
-    public ResponseEntity<Note> getNoteById(@PathVariable(value = "id") Long noteId) {
-        Note note = noteRepository.findOne(noteId);
-        if(note == null) {
-            return ResponseEntity.notFound().build();
-        }
-        return ResponseEntity.ok().body(note);
-    }
-
     @PostMapping("/notes")
     public Note createNote(@Valid @RequestBody Note note) {
         return noteRepository.save(note);
     }
 
+    @GetMapping("/notes/{id}")
+    public Note getNoteById(@PathVariable(value = "id") Long noteId) {
+        return noteRepository.findById(noteId)
+                .orElseThrow(() -> new ResourceNotFoundException("Note", "id", noteId));
+    }
+
     @PutMapping("/notes/{id}")
-    public ResponseEntity<Note> updateNote(@PathVariable(value = "id") Long noteId,
+    public Note updateNote(@PathVariable(value = "id") Long noteId,
                                            @Valid @RequestBody Note noteDetails) {
-        Note note = noteRepository.findOne(noteId);
-        if(note == null) {
-            return ResponseEntity.notFound().build();
-        }
+
+        Note note = noteRepository.findById(noteId)
+                .orElseThrow(() -> new ResourceNotFoundException("Note", "id", noteId));
+
         note.setTitle(noteDetails.getTitle());
         note.setContent(noteDetails.getContent());
 
         Note updatedNote = noteRepository.save(note);
-        return ResponseEntity.ok(updatedNote);
+        return updatedNote;
     }
 
     @DeleteMapping("/notes/{id}")
-    public ResponseEntity<Note> deleteNote(@PathVariable(value = "id") Long noteId) {
-        Note note = noteRepository.findOne(noteId);
-        if(note == null) {
-            return ResponseEntity.notFound().build();
-        }
+    public ResponseEntity<?> deleteNote(@PathVariable(value = "id") Long noteId) {
+        Note note = noteRepository.findById(noteId)
+                .orElseThrow(() -> new ResourceNotFoundException("Note", "id", noteId));
 
         noteRepository.delete(note);
+
         return ResponseEntity.ok().build();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/exception/ResourceNotFoundException.java b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/exception/ResourceNotFoundException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e4c4f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/exception/ResourceNotFoundException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package com.example.easynotes.exception;
+
+import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseStatus;
+
+@ResponseStatus(value = HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND)
+public class ResourceNotFoundException extends RuntimeException {
+    private String resourceName;
+    private String fieldName;
+    private Object fieldValue;
+
+    public ResourceNotFoundException( String resourceName, String fieldName, Object fieldValue) {
+        super(String.format("%s not found with %s : '%s'", resourceName, fieldName, fieldValue));
+        this.resourceName = resourceName;
+        this.fieldName = fieldName;
+        this.fieldValue = fieldValue;
+    }
+
+    public String getResourceName() {
+        return resourceName;
+    }
+
+    public String getFieldName() {
+        return fieldName;
+    }
+
+    public Object getFieldValue() {
+        return fieldValue;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/model/Note.java b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/model/Note.java
index 093a6b9..4f8b6b1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/model/Note.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/model/Note.java
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 package com.example.easynotes.model;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
-import org.hibernate.validator.constraints.NotBlank;
 import org.springframework.data.annotation.CreatedDate;
 import org.springframework.data.annotation.LastModifiedDate;
 import org.springframework.data.jpa.domain.support.AuditingEntityListener;
 
 import javax.persistence.*;
+import javax.validation.constraints.NotBlank;
 import java.util.Date;
 
 /**
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
         allowGetters = true)
 public class Note {
     @Id
-    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
+    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
     private Long id;
 
     @NotBlank
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/repository/NoteRepository.java b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/repository/NoteRepository.java
index 1204886..4b7b8b3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/repository/NoteRepository.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/example/easynotes/repository/NoteRepository.java
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@
 
 import com.example.easynotes.model.Note;
 import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;
 
 /**
  * Created by rajeevkumarsingh on 27/06/17.
  */
+
+@Repository
 public interface NoteRepository extends JpaRepository<Note, Long> {
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 41354eb..d357d46 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 ## Spring DATASOURCE (DataSourceAutoConfiguration & DataSourceProperties)
-spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/notes_app?autoReconnect=true&useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&allowMultiQueries=true&useSSL=false
+spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/notes_app?useSSL=false&serverTimezone=UTC&useLegacyDatetimeCode=false
 spring.datasource.username = root
-spring.datasource.password = root
+spring.datasource.password = callicoder
 
 
 ## Hibernate Properties
 
 # The SQL dialect makes Hibernate generate better SQL for the chosen database
-spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect = org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5Dialect
+spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect = org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5InnoDBDialect
 
 # Hibernate ddl auto (create, create-drop, validate, update)
 spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto = update
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java b/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java
index 4bf539c..298ed22 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/example/easynotes/EasyNotesApplicationTests.java
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
 package com.example.easynotes;
 
-import org.junit.Test;
-import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
-import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;
 
-@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
 @SpringBootTest
 public class EasyNotesApplicationTests {