difference between @size(max = value ) and @min(value) @max(value)

@Min and @Max are used for validating numeric fields which could be String(representing number), int, short, byte etc and their respective primitive wrappers.

@Size is used to check the length constraints on the fields.

As per documentation @Size supports String, Collection, Map and arrays while @Min and @Max supports primitives and their wrappers. See the documentation.

package com.mycompany;

import javax.validation.constraints.Min;
import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
import javax.validation.constraints.Size;

public class Car {

    @NotNull
    private String manufacturer;

    @NotNull
    @Size(min = 2, max = 14)
    private String licensePlate;

    @Min(2)
    private int seatCount;

    public Car(String manufacturer, String licencePlate, int seatCount) {
        this.manufacturer = manufacturer;
        this.licensePlate = licencePlate;
        this.seatCount = seatCount;
    }

    //getters and setters ...
}

@NotNull, @Size and @Min are so-called constraint annotations, that we use to declare constraints, which shall be applied to the fields of a Car instance:

manufacturer shall never be null

licensePlate shall never be null and must be between 2 and 14 characters long

seatCount shall be at least 2.