OH3 - should I replace my groups with another concept?

Hi,
I am currently working on migrating my setup to OH3.
In my OH2.5 setup, I use groups to define wich items (currently all of them are lights) should be switched on or off, based on presence or time of day or telling OH “I’m going to bed now”.

It’s easy to handle, as once a rule (I am using Jython) is set up, I can just add/remove items to/from the groups which are controlled by the rules.

With the new concepts in OH3 (which I am getting to understand better as I fiddle with the migration) and things like item-tags being gradually replaced with metadata, I was wondering if there is a “better” way to do the grouping (or adressing) of items with OH3?
“better” in terms of: as easy as using groups but more in line with OH3 concepts and future development.
Cheers,
Bastian

I wouldn’t say “better” but an alternative could be to pull Items from the Item Registry by tags instead of using Groups. The advantage of doing that is that your rule will adjust as you add/remove things from your model. The disadvantage is you can’t just sendCommand to the Group to control them all. Another advantage is you could semantically tag your functional Group.

For example, I have an AllLights Group:Switch:OR(ON,OFF) where I put all my light switches. I can tag it as a Switch/Light and put that in the root location on my model. It will then appear as a Property on my root Location’s card and let me control and represent controlling all my lights in my model.

To be clear, I’ve not actually done this as I’ve found other approaches that I like better for the way I interact with my UI/model.

As for future proof, I don’t think anyone is expecting the model to replace these sorts of ways of representing and interacting with your home automation. So you are not in danger of rework at some point if you continue to use functional Groups as you always have. I’ve a dozen or so such Groups and will continue to for the foreseeable future.

Thank you @rlkoshak - your answer is speedy and helpful, as always.
I then will stick with using groups for this matter.