Why Java Records Beat Lombok @Data and How to Simplify Your Code

Lombok is a popular Java tool that uses annotations to eliminate boilerplate code, but it introduces several problems as projects grow.

Lombok issues

Code readability – heavy use of @Data, @Builder hides generated code, making reviews and maintenance harder.

IDE support instability – integration issues cause lost code hints and editor lag.

Uncontrolled runtime behavior – auto‑generated methods like equals and hashCode can produce unexpected behavior.

Debugging difficulty – compiled‑time generated code is hard to trace during debugging.

These issues lead to confusion such as “Where does this getter come from?” or “Why is equals implemented this way?” and increase maintenance cost despite the apparent code brevity.

Time to part with Lombok

We removed Lombok and ran an experiment:

Replace @Data with Java record.

Replace @Builder with real constructors.

Replace the heavy ModelMapper /Lombok DTO combo with MapStruct .

Result: everything improved.

Why Java Records > Lombok @Data

@Data
public class User {
    private String name;
    private int age;
}

Compared with:

public record User(String name, int age) {}

Records are final and immutable by default, automatically generate visible constructors, equals, hashCode, and toString, and work well with IDEs and serialization tools, eliminating the need for an external dependency for simple data classes.

MapStruct: true mapping, not guesswork

Previously we had:

class UserEntity {
    private String name;
    private int age;
    // Lombok‑generated setters/getters
}

class UserDTO {
    private String name;
    private int age;
    // Lombok‑generated setters/getters
}

Using ModelMapper:

UserDTO dto = modelMapper.map(userEntity, UserDTO.class);

This caused silent field loss, debugging headaches, and nested‑mapping nightmares.

Switching to MapStruct:

@Mapper
public interface UserMapper {
    UserDTO toDto(UserEntity user);
}

MapStruct provides compile‑time checks, clear mappings, no reflection, and predictable behavior.

What we gained

Reduced boilerplate by ~80% .

Zero IDE issues – no strange auto‑completion bugs.

Better onboarding – new developers don’t need to decode Lombok.

Compile‑time safety – mapping errors are caught before production.

Conclusion

Lombok was excellent for its time, but Java has evolved; replace @Data with Records, drop @Builder in favor of constructors (or MapStruct builders), and replace ModelMapper with MapStruct for cleaner, safer code.