Spring Boot Validation Groups

📰 Dev.to · Dave Brown

Learn to use Spring Boot validation groups to simplify your DTO validation process and reduce code duplication

intermediate Published 18 Mar 2026

Action Steps

Create separate validation groups for CreateRequest and UpdateRequest DTOs using @Validated annotation
Define validation constraints for each group using @NotBlank, @NotNull, etc.
Apply validation groups to your controllers using @Validated annotation
Test validation groups using unit tests or integration tests
Refactor your code to remove duplicated validation logic

Who Needs to Know This

Backend developers and software engineers can benefit from this technique to improve code quality and maintainability

Key Insight

💡 Use validation groups to separate validation logic for different use cases and reduce code duplication