{"id":40927,"date":"2022-05-16T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/?p=40927"},"modified":"2022-05-16T14:29:17","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T18:29:17","slug":"java-bean-mapping-frameworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/java-bean-mapping-frameworks\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 8 Frameworks to Help Java Developers with Bean Mapping"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"As a newbie Java programmer, you might want to know how you can build a large application without using tons of similar code that can exhaust you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Building a large application on\u00a0Java<\/a>\u00a0that includes multiple layers requires models like domain, persistence, and data transfer objects (DTOs). Applications usually consist of different but similar object models where the data may be similar but the structure and objectives differ. It is crucial to converting different types of data or objects for business decisions or data hiding while executing a large application.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With object mapping, it becomes easier to convert one model to another while isolating separate models.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Although it is common to map one object to another object, it can often be iterative and tedious as both the classes have similar or the same mapped properties. Fortunately, there are several Java mapping frameworks that one can use to copy data from one object to another recursively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But before moving on to the mapping\u00a0frameworks<\/a>, let\u2019s get started with the basics of mapping in Java.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What is JavaBean?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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JavaBeans<\/a>\u00a0are Java classes that encapsulate different objects into one object or bean. Beans should be serializable (i.e. conversion of the object state into a byte stream), should have a public no-arg constructor, and the properties must be private with public getter and setter methods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Let\u2019s look at an example that shows how a JavaBean class is structured.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  1. package<\/strong>\u00a0mypack;<\/li>\n
  2. public<\/strong>\u00a0class<\/strong>\u00a0Student\u00a0implements<\/strong>\u00a0java.io.Serializable{<\/li>\n
  3. private<\/strong>\u00a0int<\/strong>\u00a0id;<\/li>\n
  4. private<\/strong>\u00a0String name;<\/li>\n
  5. public<\/strong>\u00a0Student(){}<\/li>\n
  6. public<\/strong>\u00a0void<\/strong>\u00a0setId(int<\/strong>\u00a0id){this<\/strong>.id=id;}<\/li>\n
  7. public<\/strong>\u00a0int<\/strong>\u00a0getId(){return<\/strong>\u00a0id;}<\/li>\n
  8. public<\/strong>\u00a0void<\/strong>\u00a0setName(String name){this<\/strong>.name=name;}<\/li>\n
  9. public<\/strong>\u00a0String getName(){return<\/strong>\u00a0name;}<\/li>\n
  10. }<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
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    Now to access JavaBean, getter and setter methods are used as follows:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    1. package<\/strong>\u00a0mypack;<\/li>\n
    2. public<\/strong>\u00a0class<\/strong>\u00a0Test{<\/li>\n
    3. public<\/strong>\u00a0static<\/strong>\u00a0void<\/strong>\u00a0main(String args[]){<\/li>\n
    4. Student s=new<\/strong>\u00a0Student(); \/\/object is created<\/li>\n
    5. s.setName(\u201cAnna\u201d); \/\/setting value to the object<\/li>\n
    6. System.out.println(e.getName());<\/li>\n
    7. }}<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
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      Although JavaBeans can be exposed to other applications to reuse the software components, JavaBeans are mutable (i.e. can be changed after creation) so they cannot benefit from immutable objects (like Strings in Java that can\u2019t be changed after creation). When you want to encapsulate (hide) data, it requires a get method to return its values and set methods to sets or update its value. However, creating getter and setter methods for every property can lead to repeated code in multiple areas with few to no variations also known as boilerplates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      That\u2019s where the bean mapping framework comes to play its role in\u00a0project development<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      What is Bean Mapping Framework?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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      Sometimes building enterprise-level projects can be difficult due to unstructured, broad goals and nonlinear workflows that make the app more complex. Besides, completing certain functionalities of external systems\u2019 legacy components requires the transformation of objects with similar structures like external service response to domain objects and domain objects into external service requests which is difficult to obtain manually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      Let\u2019s look into a real-world scenario, these requests and response objects might include numerous columns. To copy one bean\/object into another with manual code will require tons of code lines such as destination.setABC(source.getABC()) which is recursive and error-prone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      If you want to overcome the complexity and repetitiveness of writing similar lines of code for copying data from one bean to another, a bean mapping framework is highly useful as it offers simple configuration and fewer lines of code that streamlines your work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      The Top Frameworks For Mapping in Java<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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      Now that you know what JavaBean and Bean mapping frameworks in Java are and why they are being used in the first place. It is time to learn the top Java Bean Mapping\u00a0frameworks<\/a>\u00a0that you can use for mapping while working on your next project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      dOOv<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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      Domain Object Oriented Validation (dOOv) is an API used for domain model validation and mapping. dOOv uses code generations, annotations, and type-safe Domain-specific language (DSL) to make mapping and validation easier and more rapid. Saving you both time and effort.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      dOOV is composed of a dOOv core, dOOv generator, and dOOv assertions where the core contains Abstract Syntax Tree (AST), DST, and annotations, generator consists of code generators for field information and model-map, and assertions include AssertJ assertions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      For the following sections on recommended frameworks, I will offer an overview explanation of the framework and then coded segments for you to get started with whenever you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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