In Relation To

If you are using the default ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator as your message interpolator and you have the javax.el API in your classpath but not the implementation (which would break at runtime anyway), 5.3.1.Final would throw a nasty javax.el.ELException: Provider com.sun.el.ExpressionFactoryImpl not found. This exception breaks the promise we made to you, our beloved users, to throw a nice javax.validation.ValidationException with a clear error message.

The story behind it is that, in 5.3.1.Final, we changed the way the javax.el.ExpressionFactory is initialized when using ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator. This latter class is the default message interpolator used to interpolate the constraint violations messages using the Expression Language. Prior to this change, the ExpressionFactory was initialized at runtime for each interpolation which was not a good thing, as you can imagine.

Starting with 5.3.1.Final, we initialize once and for all the ExpressionFactory when initializing the ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator. Thus, even if no messages are interpolated, if you use the default message interpolator, you now need the javax.el API and the javax.el implementation in your classpath. Before this change, only the API was required at bootstrap.

You shouldn’t notice this difference in a normal Hibernate Validator usage as there is a good chance you would need to interpolate a message: the good news is that you now have an error at bootstrap instead of at runtime if your classpath is not correct.

So, at the end of the day, this release is all about fixing this issue.

We also backported a few totally unrelated Java 9 build improvements.

You can find the complete list of all addressed issues in the change log.

Hibernate Validator 5.3.2.Final is a drop-in replacement of Hibernate Validator 5.3.1.Final.

To get the release with Maven, Gradle etc. use the GAV coordinates org.hibernate:{hibernate-validator|hibernate-validator-cdi|hibernate-validator-annotation-processor}:5.3.2.Final.

Alternatively, a distribution bundle containing all the bits is provided on SourceForge (TAR.GZ, ZIP).

To get in touch, use the following channels:

We are going to prepare a 5.4 release with support for javax.money validation contributed by Lukas Niemeier and Willi Schönborn from Zalando and a lot of improvements to the annotation processor thanks to the great work of Marko Bekhta.

We are actively working on Bean Validation 2.0 and Hibernate Validator 6 with a strong focus on supporting Java 8 new features (and much more!). The more the merrier, so feel free to join us: drop ideas, comment on others' proposals, now is the time to define the future of Bean Validation. You can find all the necessary information on the Bean Validation website.