Enhancing Poductivity with Lombok in Spring applications

Introduction:
In the area of Java development, writing clean and concise code can be a challenge. Luckily, tools like Project Lombok come to the rescue, offering a streamlined approach to reducing boilerplate code. When combined with the Spring Framework, Lombok can significantly enhance your development experience. Let's explore how integrating Lombok with Spring can simplify your codebase and boost productivity.

What is Lombok?

Lombok is a Java library that helps minimize the verbosity of code by generating common boilerplate code such as getters, setters, constructors, and more through annotations. It easily integrates into your IDE and simplifies everyday Java development tasks.

Integrating Lombok with Spring

1. Add Lombok Dependency: Start by including the Lombok dependency in your project’s build file (Maven or Gradle).

2. Enable Annotation Processing: Configure your IDE to enable annotation processing to allow Lombok to generate code during compilation. I use intelliJ when it detects the lombok dependency , it pops up a notification saying to Enable annotation processing to generate the setters, getters etc. This must be enabled.

Annotations with Example:-
Below is the simple traditional POJO we create to define entities or Data Transfer Objects when we are dealing with RestAPI's or creating entities for ORM's like SpringDataJPA

public class Person {
    private String name;
    private int age;

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }

    public void setAge(int age) {
        this.age = age;
    }
}

Reducing the above code by using lombok annotations:-

1. Getter and Setter Annotations:-
   By using @Getter and @Setter annotations, you don't need to write all the getters and setters. Annotations will take care for you.

    import lombok.Getter;
    import lombok.Setter;
   
    @Getter  
    @Setter
    public class Person {
        private String name;
        private int age;
    }
   

2. Construcutor Annotations:-

   1. You can geenrate all No Arguments constrcutors and AllArguments constructor using the following annotations

       import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
       import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
      
       @AllArgsConstructor
       @NoArgsConstructor
       public class Person {
           private String name;
           private int age;
       }
      

3. Data Annotations:-

   You can use @Data annotation to generate @Getter, @Setter, @ToString, @EqualsAndHashCode, and @RequiredArgsConstructor in one annotation, reducing and increasing readability of your code further.

    import lombok.Data;
   
    @Data
    public class Person {
        private String name;
        private int age;
    }
   

4. Builder Annotation:-

   1. This is one of my favourite annotation and it follows a Builder design pattern(More on design patters will be coming soon)

   2. The @Builder annotation from Lombok generates a builder pattern for the class. It allows for fluent creation of objects by chaining method calls together, providing a concise and readable way to construct instances. Have a look at the below code. You don't need to use set methods to set the data anymore.

       Person person = Person.builder()
           .name("Lingaiah")
           .age(25)
           .build();
      

This dependecy is used widely in many spring applications and when dealing with creating classes with many fields , we can take advantage of lombok library and amazing features it offers.

Note:- There are many arguments on using lombok annotations , Using it right way brings better productivity and bug free. Especially with @Data which is commonly used and leads to more debugging of incorrect usage.

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