Work with immutable data classes

The mapping feature of the DynamoDB Enhanced Client API works with immutable data classes. An immutable class has only getters and requires a builder class that the SDK uses to create instances of the class. Instead of using the @DynamoDbBean annotation as shown in the Customer class, immutable classes use the @DynamoDbImmutable annotation, which takes a parameter that indicates the builder class to use.

The following class is an immutable version of Customer.

package org.example.tests.model.immutable;

import software.amazon.awssdk.enhanced.dynamodb.mapper.annotations.DynamoDbImmutable;
import software.amazon.awssdk.enhanced.dynamodb.mapper.annotations.DynamoDbPartitionKey;
import software.amazon.awssdk.enhanced.dynamodb.mapper.annotations.DynamoDbSecondaryPartitionKey;
import software.amazon.awssdk.enhanced.dynamodb.mapper.annotations.DynamoDbSecondarySortKey;
import software.amazon.awssdk.enhanced.dynamodb.mapper.annotations.DynamoDbSortKey;

import java.time.Instant;

@DynamoDbImmutable(builder = CustomerImmutable.Builder.class)
public class CustomerImmutable {
    private final String id;
    private final String name;
    private final String email;
    private final Instant regDate;

    private CustomerImmutable(Builder b) {
        this.id = b.id;
        this.email = b.email;
        this.name = b.name;
        this.regDate = b.regDate;
    }

    // This method will be automatically discovered and used by the TableSchema.
    public static Builder builder() { return new Builder(); }

    @DynamoDbPartitionKey
    public String id() { return this.id; }

    @DynamoDbSortKey
    public String email() { return this.email; }

    @DynamoDbSecondaryPartitionKey(indexNames = "customers_by_name")
    public String name() { return this.name; }

    @DynamoDbSecondarySortKey(indexNames = {"customers_by_date", "customers_by_name"})
    public Instant regDate() { return this.regDate; }

    public static final class Builder {
        private String id;
        private String email;
        private String name;
        private Instant regDate;

        // The private Builder constructor is visible to the enclosing CustomerImmutable class.
        private Builder() {}

        public Builder id(String id) { this.id = id; return this; }
        public Builder email(String email) { this.email = email; return this; }
        public Builder name(String name) { this.name = name; return this; }
        public Builder regDate(Instant regDate) { this.regDate = regDate; return this; }

        // This method will be automatically discovered and used by the TableSchema.
        public CustomerImmutable build() { return new CustomerImmutable(this); }
    }
}

You must meet the following requirements when you annotate a data class with @DynamoDbImmutable.

To create a TableSchema for your immutable class, use the fromImmutableClass() method on TableSchema as shown in the following snippet.

static final TableSchema<CustomerImmutable> customerImmutableTableSchema = 
                         TableSchema.fromImmutableClass(CustomerImmutable.class);

Just as you can create a DynamoDB table from a mutable class, you can create one from an immutable class with a one-time call to createTable() of DynamoDbTable as shown in the following snippet example.

static void createTableFromImmutable(DynamoDbEnhancedClient enhancedClient, String tableName, DynamoDbWaiter waiter){
    // First, create an in-memory representation of the table using the 'table()' method of the DynamoDb Enhanced Client.
    // 'table()' accepts a name for the table and a TableSchema instance that you created previously.
    DynamoDbTable<CustomerImmutable> customerDynamoDbTable = enhancedClient
            .table(tableName, TableSchema.fromImmutableClass(CustomerImmutable.class));
        
    // Second, call the 'createTable()' method on the DynamoDbTable instance.
    customerDynamoDbTable.createTable();
    waiter.waitUntilTableExists(b -> b.tableName(tableName));
}

Use third-party libraries, such as Lombok

Third-party libraries, such as Project Lombok, help generate boilerplate code associated with immutable objects. The DynamoDB Enhanced Client API works with these libraries as long as the data classes follow the conventions detailed in this section.

The following example shows the immutable CustomerImmutable class with Lombok annotations. Note how Lombok's onMethod feature copies attribute-based DynamoDB annotations, such as @DynamoDbPartitionKey, onto the generated code.

@Value
@Builder
@DynamoDbImmutable(builder = Customer.CustomerBuilder.class)
public class Customer {
    @Getter(onMethod_=@DynamoDbPartitionKey)
    private String id;

    @Getter(onMethod_=@DynamoDbSortKey)
    private String email;

    @Getter(onMethod_=@DynamoDbSecondaryPartitionKey(indexNames = "customers_by_name"))
    private String name;

    @Getter(onMethod_=@DynamoDbSecondarySortKey(indexNames = {"customers_by_date", "customers_by_name"}))
    private Instant createdDate;
}