Introduce first-class type-safe property path references at the core level by mp911de · Pull Request #3409 · spring-projects/spring-data-commons

mp911de · 2025-11-17T10:12:17Z

We now support type-safe property paths and property references:

Java variants:

PropertyPath.from("name", Person.class) // existing String-based API
PropertyPath.of(Person::getName) // type-safe property reference expression

PropertyPath.from("address.country", Person.class) // existing nested path API
PropertyPath.of(Person::getAddress).then(Address::getCountry) // type-safe composed path expression


PropertyReference.of(Secret::getSecret)

Kotlin variants:

PropertyReference.of(Secret::secret)

PropertyPath.of(Person::address / Address::city)

allowing type-safe usage through e.g.:

Sort.by(Person::getFirstName, Person::getLastName)

Module adoption:

schauder

Looks great. I left a few nitpicks.

I didn't look into actually using it, since it seems Christoph already did that.
Let me know if I should take it for a spin as well.

src/main/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/property-paths.adoc

schauder · 2026-01-05T09:26:38Z

src/main/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/property-paths.adoc

+This chapter covers the concept of property paths.
+Property paths are a form of navigation through domain classes to apply certain aspects in the context of interacting with the model.
+Application code provides property paths to data access components to express intents such as selection of properties within a query, forming predicates, or applying sorting.
+A property path originates from its owning type and can consist of one to many segments.


"one to many segments"

I know, I lost the fight before, but I still find it really weird, that we don't have zero length paths, referring to the a aggregate root itself.

A zero-length-path that would describe its object root isn't a property path.

src/main/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/property-paths.adoc

src/main/java/org/springframework/data/core/PropertyPath.java

schauder · 2026-01-06T14:14:56Z

src/main/java/org/springframework/data/core/PropertyReference.java

+	 * This method returns a resolved {@link PropertyReference} by introspecting the given method reference.
+	 *
+	 * @param property the method reference to a Java beans property.
+	 * @param <T> owning type.


Could we improve readability a little by using something more mnemonic than T? Or am I missing something?

O for Orgin or Owner.
R for Root
S for Source

Applies also for TypedPropertyPath

T is a short variant for Type in alignment with Optional<T>, Function<T> and the like. O for the owner seems an okay match as well.

schauder · 2026-01-07T13:40:38Z

src/main/java/org/springframework/data/domain/ExampleMatcher.java

+	@Contract("_ -> new")
+	@CheckReturnValue
+	default <T> ExampleMatcher withIgnorePaths(TypedPropertyPath<T, ?>... ignoredPaths) {
+		return withIgnorePaths(Arrays.stream(ignoredPaths).map(TypedPropertyPath::of).map(TypedPropertyPath::toDotPath)


Why are we mapping it explicitly to TypedPropertyPath? This happens already in the getSegment called inside toDotPath.

If this is for performance reasons (just guessing) we should add a comment to that effect .

This pattern appears a couple of times.

Good catch. Initially, that was a fix for performance reasons. Default property path methods now handle of(this) themselves so the wrapping isn't necessary anymore.

schauder · 2026-01-07T14:10:19Z

src/test/java/org/springframework/data/core/PropertyPathTck.java

+ *
+ * @author Mark Paluch
+ */
+class PropertyPathTck {


I'm a little confused by the name TCK. This seems more like a PropertyPathTestSupport.

From a TCK I would expect that it actually forces you to provide certain propertyPaths.
Maybe as a Map from a String representation to the representation under test and then run a bunch of tests against these, and failing when expected paths aren't in the provided Map.

The TCK is an abbreviation for test compatibility kit.

We now support type-safe property paths and property references: Java variants: PropertyPath.from("name", Person.class) // existing String-based API PropertyPath.of(Person::getName) // type-safe property reference expression PropertyPath.from("address.country", Person.class) // existing nested path API PropertyPath.of(Person::getAddress).then(Address::getCountry) // type-safe composed path expression PropertyReference.of(Secret::getSecret) Kotlin variants: PropertyReference.of(Secret::secret) PropertyPath.of(Person::address / Address::city) allowing type-safe usage through e.g.: Sort.by(Person::getFirstName, Person::getLastName) Closes #3400

We now support type-safe property paths and property references: Java variants: PropertyPath.from("name", Person.class) // existing String-based API PropertyPath.of(Person::getName) // type-safe property reference expression PropertyPath.from("address.country", Person.class) // existing nested path API PropertyPath.of(Person::getAddress).then(Address::getCountry) // type-safe composed path expression PropertyReference.of(Secret::getSecret) Kotlin variants: PropertyReference.of(Secret::secret) PropertyPath.of(Person::address / Address::city) allowing type-safe usage through e.g.: Sort.by(Person::getFirstName, Person::getLastName) Closes: #3400 Original Pull Request: #3409

Original Pull Request: #3409

We now properly implement resolution and delegation for raw paths not requiring TypedPropertyPath.of(…) usage at the call site. See: #3400 Original Pull Request: #3409

mp911de added the type: enhancement A general enhancement label Nov 17, 2025

mp911de linked an issue Nov 17, 2025 that may be closed by this pull request

Introduce first-class type-safe property path references at the core level #3400

Closed

mp911de force-pushed the main branch from 5f41eee to 0a26946 Compare November 19, 2025 09:15

mp911de force-pushed the issue/3400 branch from 75b59ea to b1d6892 Compare November 20, 2025 11:11

mp911de self-assigned this Jan 6, 2026

schauder approved these changes Jan 7, 2026

View reviewed changes

schauder mentioned this pull request Jan 8, 2026

Retrofit Query, Update, Index & QBE API accepting TypedPropertyPath spring-projects/spring-data-mongodb#5135

Closed

christophstrobl mentioned this pull request Jan 20, 2026

Accept TypedPropertyPath for Update and Criteria Query paths spring-projects/spring-data-mongodb#5148

Closed

This was referenced Jan 21, 2026

Add kotlin extensions for Sort. #3446

Closed

Add Kotlin extension for Sort #3445

Closed

christophstrobl mentioned this pull request Jan 21, 2026

Add support for TypedPropertyPaths spring-projects/spring-data-relational#2226

Closed

Prepare issue branch.

fa9449a

mp911de force-pushed the issue/3400 branch from b1d6892 to 12a8e89 Compare January 27, 2026 09:06

mp911de added this to the 4.1 M1 (2026.0.0) milestone Jan 27, 2026

mp911de force-pushed the issue/3400 branch from 12a8e89 to 4edf5fb Compare January 27, 2026 13:11

mp911de force-pushed the issue/3400 branch from 4edf5fb to 9217198 Compare January 28, 2026 10:02

christophstrobl added a commit that referenced this pull request Jan 29, 2026

Update License Headers.

b06af67

Original Pull Request: #3409

christophstrobl closed this Jan 29, 2026

christophstrobl deleted the issue/3400 branch January 29, 2026 08:36

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mp911de commented Nov 17, 2025 •

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