[hibernate-issues] [Hibernate-JIRA] Commented: (BVAL-2) Is there a difference between the implicit default group given by {} and the explcitly specified group "default"?

Is there a difference between the implicit default group given by {} and the explcitly specified group "default"? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key: BVAL-2 URL: http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/hibernate/browse/BVAL-2 Project: Bean Validation Issue Type: Task Components: spec-general Reporter: Hardy Ferentschik The question is why is the the default value for groups not "default" instead of the empty array? I think the it would be more explicit to use "default". Also if I do not specify a group and hence the default (empty array) applies, what does the corresponding ConstraintDescriptor.getGroups() return? An empty array or "default"? Or are we saying that the default group is to be treated separately from the explicitly specified group 'default'? Emmanuel's reasoning behind the empty array was to keep it simple for annotation developers, one less thing to remember and typo to do. However, if we decide to treat the empty array and "default' the same way, I would opt for a explicit "default" string.