When should you use @Builder instead of a manual builder pattern?

Use @Builder when a class's construction logic is straightforward - just setting a set of properties fluently - and you want the builder boilerplate, a separate builder class with chained setter-like methods and a build() method, generated automatically rather than hand-written and maintained.

Write a manual builder pattern instead when construction needs custom validation logic, conditional steps, or a build process that doesn't map cleanly onto @Builder's generated, mostly one-property-per-method structure.

@Builder also supports several strategies, like the default builder or one working well with @Immutable, so it's worth checking whether one of its built-in strategies actually fits the specific construction pattern needed before deciding a fully manual builder is necessary.

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