findTop3ByStatusOrderByCreatedDateDesc

findTop3ByStat is a method naming convention used in Spring Data repositories to retrieve the first three entities that match a given criterion, optionally ordered by specified properties. The approach uses the method name to define both filtering and sorting, allowing developers to express common queries without writing explicit query strings.

How it works: Spring Data analyzes the repository method name and derives a query from it. The segment findTop3By indicates a limit of three results. The following part specifies the filtering condition on one or more properties, such as Stat or other fields. Adding an OrderBy clause determines how the results are sorted before the top three are selected. You can also use synonyms like findFirst3By. When using multiple conditions, the method name forms predicates combined with And.

Common usage: For example, a repository method like List<User> findTop3ByStatusOrderByScoreDesc(String status) returns up to three users with the given status, sorted by score in descending order. Alternatively, List<Product> findTop3ByCategoryOrderByRevenueDesc(String category) would fetch the top three products in a category by revenue. The method can omit OrderBy, in which case the database’s default ordering applies or you can add Sort information to the query explicitly.

Variations and alternatives: You can also use findFirst3By as an alternative to findTop3By. If dynamic limits are needed, Spring Data supports pagination with Pageable (for example, Page<T> findByStatus(String status, Pageable pageable)), offering more flexibility than a fixed limit of three.

Notes: The actual results depend on the underlying data and indexing. Using proper indexes on the filtered and sorted columns improves performance.