Understanding @Valid vs @Validated, Group Validation, Group Sequence, and Nested Validation in Spring/Hibernate

Overview

@Valid is used when applying Hibernate Validator, while @Validated leverages Spring's validation mechanism.

Java's JSR‑303 defines @Valid interfaces, and Hibernate‑Validator implements them.

@Validation wraps @Valid without functional differences, but offers extra features such as grouping, annotation placement, and nested validation.

Annotation Placement

@Validated can be placed on types, methods, and method parameters, but not on fields.

@Valid can be placed on methods, constructors, method parameters, and fields.

Group Validation

@Validated provides group functionality, allowing different validation rules for different groups.

@Valid does not support groups.

Example of defining groups:

public interface IGroupA {}
public interface IGroupB {}

Bean with group‑specific constraints:

public class StudentBean implements Serializable {
    @NotBlank(message = "用户名不能为空")
    private String name;
    @Min(value = 18, message = "年龄不能小于18岁", groups = {IGroupB.class})
    private Integer age;
    @Pattern(regexp = "^((13[0-9])|(14[5,7,9])|(15([0-3]|[5-9]))|(166)|(17[0,1,3,5,6,7,8])|(18[0-9])|(19[8|9]))\\d{8}$", message = "手机号格式错误")
    private String phoneNum;
    @Email(message = "邮箱格式错误")
    private String email;
    @MyConstraint
    private String className;
}

Controller testing group IGroupA :

@RestController
public class CheckController {
    @PostMapping("stu")
    public String addStu(@Validated({IGroupA.class}) @RequestBody StudentBean studentBean) {
        return "add student success";
    }
}

When multiple groups are specified, validation proceeds according to the defined groups.

Group Sequence

Define a sequence to enforce ordered validation; if a preceding group fails, subsequent groups are skipped.

@GroupSequence({Default.class, IGroupA.class, IGroupB.class})
public interface IGroup {}

Bean with constraints assigned to groups IGroupA (age) and IGroupB (className) will be validated in the defined order.

Nested Validation

To validate a nested object, annotate the containing field with @Valid . @Validated cannot be used for nested validation.

Example of nested beans:

public class TeacherBean {
    @NotEmpty(message = "老师姓名不能为空")
    private String teacherName;
    @Min(value = 1, message = "学科类型从1开始计算")
    private int type;
}

public class StudentBean implements Serializable {
    @NotBlank(message = "用户名不能为空")
    private String name;
    @Min(value = 18, message = "年龄不能小于18岁")
    private Integer age;
    @Pattern(regexp = "...", message = "手机号格式错误")
    private String phoneNum;
    @Email(message = "邮箱格式错误")
    private String email;
    @MyConstraint
    private String className;
    @Valid
    @NotNull(message = "任课老师不能为空")
    @Size(min = 1, message = "至少有一个老师")
    private List
teacherBeans;
}

Without @Valid on teacherBeans , only @NotNull and @Size are applied; adding @Valid triggers validation of each TeacherBean instance.

Conclusion

The article demonstrates how to choose between @Valid and @Validated , apply validation groups, define group sequences for ordered checks, and perform nested validation in Spring/Hibernate applications, enabling precise and flexible backend data validation.