Difference in Template Rendering Between Velocity 2.3 and 2.4.1 for Map with List

Dear Velocity Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I'm currently using Apache Velocity in my Java application, and I noticed a
behavioral difference in template rendering when upgrading from version
*2.3* to *2.4.1*.
Template:

{
  "students" :  $student.values
}

Sample JSON (studentData):

{
  "student": {
    "values": [
      { "id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 20, "grade": "A" },
      { "id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 21, "grade": "B" }
    ]
  }
}

Output in Velocity 2.3:

{
  "students" : [{id=1, name=Alice, age=20, grade=A}, {id=2, name=Bob,
age=21, grade=B}]
}

Output in Velocity 2.4.1:

{
  "students" : [[{id=1, name=Alice, age=20, grade=A}, {id=2, name=Bob,
age=21, grade=B}]]
}

Concern:

In *2.4.1*, the result includes an extra set of brackets, indicating that
Velocity is now treating the .values object as a list containing a list
instead of a list itself.

This change in behavior breaks backward compatibility in my use case. I'm
unsure if this change was intentional or a regression.
Screenshots:

I’ve attached screenshots of the same Java code executed with both versions:

   -

   *velocity-2.3*
   - [image: Screenshot from 2025-07-22 18-38-28.png]

   -

   *velocity-2.4.1*
   - [image: Screenshot from 2025-07-22 18-39-00.png]


Request:

Could you please clarify if this is:

   -

   An intended change in how Velocity handles map values, or
   -

   A bug introduced in the recent release?

Additionally, if there's a recommended workaround or best practice for
handling this in 2.4.1, I’d greatly appreciate the guidance.

Thanks for maintaining such a helpful project!

Best regards,
*Ravi Mergu*
------------------------------