# Reference App
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-self-services/documentation/reference-app/index.md

## Overview {#overview}

The reference application guides you through the process of connecting your API to the Merchant Self Services API using JAVA.

## Prerequisites {#prerequisites}

* A development environment that includes your IDE of choice
* A [Mastercard Developers Account](https://developer.mastercard.com/dashboard) with access to Merchant Self Services
* JDK 8 or newer version installed locally
* [Apache Maven 3.3+](https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi) installed locally

## Technologies Used {#technologies-used}

* [JAVA](https://www.java.com/)
* [Maven](https://maven.apache.org/)

## What You Will Build {#what-you-will-build}

You'll build an application and use the data we provide to make calls to your API and return information about your company submerchants and sub-brands.

## Get the Source Code {#get-the-source-code}

The reference application is explained in-depth in the following tutorial. You can also download a zip file of the source code.

|                                                                                    Item                                                                                     |                       Description                       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| [Reference Application Tutorial](https://developer.mastercard.com/merchant-self-services/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/reference-app-tutorial/index.md)                | An in-depth explanation of the reference app            |
| [merchant-self-services-reference-dev.zip](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/merchant-self-services/uploads/merchant-self-services-reference-dev.zip) (125KB) | Downloadable reference application source code zip file |