Step 1 (PR-D): DetachedCriteriaSpec command-chain syntax cleanup

[jamesfredley]

Step 1 (PR-D) prerequisite for Hibernate 7 work - extracted from the staging branch so it can be reviewed on its own merits.

Context

This change was originally pulled forward into the hibernate7 staging branch as part of PR #15654. @sbglasius flagged it on DetachedCriteriaSpec.groovy:

"This is an unneeded change for this PR. Removing parentheses should have been done in a clean-up PR."

Extracting it here against 8.0.x so it can land on its own and then flow naturally into both the staging branch (PR #15654) and Step 2 (PR #15568).

Scope

Single file. 18 line changes. Pure style cleanup:

// before
criteria.with {
    eq('lastName', 'Simpson')
}

// after
criteria.with {
    eq 'lastName', 'Simpson'
}

Call	Count
eq('lastName', 'Simpson') → eq 'lastName', 'Simpson'	15
like('firstName', 'B%') → like 'firstName', 'B%'	3
Total	18

This matches the idiomatic Groovy DSL convention used elsewhere in GORM criteria builders and is the form adopted on the hibernate7 staging branch.

Why a separate PR

PR #15654 (Step 1) is meant to be a near-pure clone of hibernate5 → hibernate7. PR #15568 (Step 2) is the actual Hibernate 7 logic. @sbglasius's review of the staging PR asked for cleanup of this nature to be split out so the review effort on Step 1 and Step 2 can stay focused on hibernate-related diffs.

Once this PR is merged, the corresponding style change on the hibernate7 staging branch should be removed since the change will arrive through the next merge of 8.0.x.

Related

• Step 1 PR-A: Hibernate 7 - Step 1 #15654 (the hibernate7 clone, already updated to remove logback.groovy and the unrelated stepByStep.adoc change)
• Step 1 PR-B: Step 1 (PR-B): Async project defensive coding cleanup #15682 (async defensive coding cleanup - in review)
• Step 1 PR-C: Step 1 (PR-C): Add addAllDomainClasses helper to GrailsDataTckManager #15683 (addAllDomainClasses helper - in review)
• Step 2: Hibernate 7 - Step 2 #15568 (the actual Hibernate 7 logic - blocked on Step 1 prerequisites)

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Style-only cleanup to make DetachedCriteriaSpec use Groovy command-chain syntax for criteria DSL calls, aligning the TCK tests with the idiomatic GORM criteria style (and keeping the Hibernate 7 prerequisite work focused).

Changes:

• Replace eq('lastName', 'Simpson') with eq 'lastName', 'Simpson' throughout the spec.
• Replace like('firstName', 'B%') with like 'firstName', 'B%' in additional criteria closures.

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[matrei]

I am against this change and I think we should always use parentheses for method calls as it is much easier to read/skim.

[sbglasius]

I agree with @matrei - removing parentheses does not add value.

[jamesfredley]

I agree with standardizing on parentheses for method calls. It is the majority, but separate from this we will need to create a issue to go back to cleanup.

on origin/8.0.x (the PR's actual base = historical truth)

Combined eq + like:

Scope	paren	no-paren	split
All .groovy	109 (92 + 17)	97 (77 + 20)	~53 / 47
*Spec.groovy only	94 (79 + 15)	78 (69 + 9)	~55 / 45

Per-method breakdown:

Method / scope	paren	no-paren
eq - all groovy	92	77
eq - specs only	79	69
like - all groovy	17	20
like - specs only	15	9

Staging vs base (specs only)

Branch	paren	no-paren
8.0.x (base, historical truth)	94	78
8.0.x-stage-hibernate7 (staging)	95	88

The staging branch added ~10 no-paren spec lines on top of base. The migration toward no-paren is something the hibernate7 staging work itself introduced, not a pre-existing house style.

Verdict

• Historically on 8.0.x, the parenthesized form is the plurality - roughly 55/45 in specs, 53/47 overall.
• eq(...) specifically leads in every slice (92 vs 77 overall, 79 vs 69 in specs).
• The only place no-paren wins is like across all groovy (20 vs 17), and that flips back to paren when restricted to specs (15 vs 9).
• The HibernateCriteriaBuilder javadoc examples and most example/integration-test apps use the parenthesized form.