Valhalla breaks minimal-j framework

[Bruno Eberhard]

Hi,

I really like the concepts and the gains you make with Valhalla. But it 
breaks some essential points of my framework called «minimal-j» (on 
https://github.com/BrunoEberhard/minimal-j ). I would kindly ask if you 
can provide a replacement for what is not possible in Valhalla anymore.

Let me show the problem and then propose a solution. In the minimal 
design all fields of a class representing a business entity (only those) 
are public. No getter or setter. Then a static constant $ is defined 
like this:

  public class Person {
	public static final Person $ = Keys.of(Person.class);

	@NotEmpty
	public Integer number;

	@Size(100)
	@Searched
	@NotEmpty
	public String name;
	
	public final Address address = new Address();
}

With the $ constant there is a reference to the fields of the class. 
With theses references a UI can be specified:

	var form = new Form<Person>();
	form.line($.number);
	form.line($.name);
	form.line($.address.city);

Or a query to the persistence layer can be formulated:

	Backend.find(Person.class, By.field($.name, "Bruno"));
	Backend.find(Person.class, By.field($.address.zip, 8000));

In the background the framework fills the fields of the $ constant with 
values that are later used to identify which field should be used. For 
this identity is vital. Things like "new String(..)" and "new 
Integer(..)" is used to make $.number unique.

If Integers loose their identity this is now longer feasable.

A possible replacement for this trick would be references to fields. 
Best in this way:

	Backend.find(Person.class, By.field(Person::name, "Bruno"));

Person::name should result in a java.lang.reflect.Field

	Backend.find(Person.class, By.field(Person::address::zip, 8000));

Here Person::address::zip should result in a java.lang.reflect.Field[] 
or in a new class containing chained Fields.

Of course I could instead write getter and setter and the use 
Person::getName . But Person::getAddress::getZip doesn't work. And I 
would really like not to have getter and setter (for which I have to 
check all names and parameters are correct). Lombok or Kotlin hide 
getter and setter. But I don't really like hiding something. Especially 
if it is not really needed.

So if it is possible to add this construct to the java language it would 
make me really happy. Otherwise I would never be able to use a Java 
version which contains Valhalle for this kind of framework.

regards