History
Syntax
Maven projects are configured using a Project Object Model (POM), which is stored in apom.xml
-file. An example file looks like:
mvn package
will compile all the Java files, run any tests, and package the deliverable code and resources into target/my-app-1.0.jar
(assuming the artifactId is my-app and the version is 1.0.)
Using Maven, the user provides only configuration for the project, while the configurable plug-ins do the actual work of compiling the project, cleaning target directories, running unit tests, generating API documentation and so on. In general, users should not have to write plugins themselves. Contrast this with Design
Project Object Model
A Project Object Model (POM) provides all the configuration for a single project. General configuration covers the project's name, its owner and its dependencies on other projects. One can also configure individual phases of the build process, which are implemented as plugins. For example, one can configure the compiler-plugin to use Java version 1.5 for compilation, or specify packaging the project even if some unit tests fail. Larger projects should be divided into several modules, or sub-projects, each with its own POM. One can then write a root POM through which one can compile all the modules with a single command. POMs can also inherit configuration from other POMs. All POMs inherit from the Super POM by default. The Super POM provides default configuration, such as default source directories, default plugins, and so on.Plug-ins
Most of Maven's functionality is in plug-ins. A plugin provides a set of goals that can be executed using the commandmvn lugin-name oal-name/code>. For example, a Java project can be compiled with the compiler-plugin's compile-goal by running mvn compiler:compile
.
There are Maven plugins for building, testing, source control management, running a web server, generating Eclipse project files, and much more. Plugins are introduced and configured in a -section of a pom.xml
file. Some basic plugins are included in every project by default, and they have sensible default settings.
However, it would be cumbersome if the archetypal build sequence of building, testing and packaging a software project required running each respective goal manually:
* mvn compiler:compile
* mvn surefire:test
* mvn jar:jar
Maven's lifecycle concept handles this issue.
Plugins are the primary way to extend Maven. Developing a Maven plugin can be done by extending the org.apache.maven.plugin.AbstractMojo class. Example code and explanation for a Maven plugin to create a cloud-based virtual machine running an application server is given in the article ''Automate development and management of cloud virtual machines''.
Build lifecycles
The build lifecycle is a list of named ''phases'' that can be used to give order to goal execution. One of Maven's standard lifecycles is the ''default lifecycle'', which includes the following phases, in this order:
* validate
* generate-sources
* process-sources
* generate-resources
* process-resources
* compile
* process-test-sources
* process-test-resources
* test-compile
* test
* package
* install
* deploy
Goals provided by plugins can be associated with different phases of the lifecycle. For example, by default, the goal "compiler:compile" is associated with the "compile" phase, while the goal "surefire:test" is associated with the "test" phase. When the mvn test
command is executed, Maven runs all goals associated with each of the phases up to and including the "test" phase. In such a case, Maven runs the "resources:resources" goal associated with the "process-resources" phase, then "compiler:compile", and so on until it finally runs the "surefire:test" goal.
Maven also has standard phases for cleaning the project and for generating a project site. If cleaning were part of the default lifecycle, the project would be cleaned every time it was built. This is clearly undesirable, so cleaning has been given its own lifecycle.
Standard lifecycles enable users new to a project the ability to accurately build, test and install every Maven project by issuing the single command mvn install
. By default, Maven packages the POM file in generated JAR and WAR files. Tools like diet4j can use this information to recursively resolve and run Maven modules at run-time without requiring an "uber"-jar that contains all project code.
Dependencies
A central feature in Maven is dependency management. Maven's dependency-handling mechanism is organized around a coordinate system identifying individual artifacts such as software libraries or modules. The POM example above references the JUnit coordinates as a direct dependency of the project. A project that needs, say, the Hibernate library simply has to declare Hibernate's project coordinates in its POM. Maven will automatically download the dependency and the dependencies that Hibernate itself needs (called transitive dependencies) and store them in the user's local repository. Maven
Central Repository
ref name="maven2repo"/> is used by default to search for libraries, but one can configure the repositories to be used (e.g., company-private repositories) within the POM.
The fundamental difference between Maven and Ant is that Maven's design regards all projects as having a certain structure and a set of supported task work-flows (e.g., getting resources from source control, compiling the project, unit testing, etc.). While most software projects in effect support these operations and actually do have a well-defined structure, Maven requires that this structure and the operation implementation details be defined in the POM file. Thus, Maven relies on a convention on how to define projects and on the list of work-flows that are generally supported in all projects.
There are search engines such as The Central Repository Search Engine, which can be used to find out coordinates for different open-source libraries and frameworks.
Projects developed on a single machine can depend on each other through the local repository. The local repository is a simple folder structure that acts both as a cache for downloaded dependencies and as a centralized storage place for locally built artifacts. The Maven command mvn install
builds a project and places its binaries in the local repository. Then, other projects can utilize this project by specifying its coordinates in their POMs.
Interoperability
Add-ons to several popular integrated development environments (IDE) targeting the Java programming language exist to provide integration of Maven with the IDE's build mechanism and source editing tools, allowing Maven to compile projects from within the IDE, and also to set the classpath for code completion, highlighting compiler errors, etc.
Examples of popular IDEs supporting development with Maven include:
* Eclipse
* NetBeans
NetBeans is an integrated development environment (IDE) for Java. NetBeans allows applications to be developed from a set of modular software components called ''modules''. NetBeans runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and Solaris. In addition to Java ...
* IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA is an integrated development environment (IDE) written in Java for developing computer software written in Java, Kotlin, Groovy, and other JVM-based languages. It is developed by JetBrains (formerly known as IntelliJ) and is av ...
* JBuilder
JBuilder is a discontinued integrated development environment (IDE) for the programming language Java from Embarcadero Technologies. Originally developed by Borland, JBuilder was spun off with CodeGear which was eventually purchased by Embarcader ...
* JDeveloper
JDeveloper is a freeware IDE supplied by Oracle Corporation. It offers features for development in Java, XML, SQL and PL/SQL, HTML, JavaScript, BPEL and PHP. JDeveloper covers the full development lifecycle from design through coding, debuggi ...
(version 11.1.2)
* MyEclipse
MyEclipse is a commercially available Java EE IDE created and maintained by the company Genuitec, a founding member of the Eclipse Foundation.
MyEclipse is built upon the Eclipse platform, and integrates both proprietary and open source code ...
* Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code, is a source-code editor made by Microsoft with the Electron Framework, for Windows, Linux and macOS. Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code comple ...
These add-ons also provide the ability to edit the POM or use the POM to determine a project's complete set of dependencies directly within the IDE.
Some built-in features of IDEs are forfeited when the IDE no longer performs compilation. For example, Eclipse's JDT has the ability to recompile a single Java source file after it has been edited. Many IDEs work with a flat set of projects instead of the hierarchy of folders preferred by Maven. This complicates the use of SCM systems in IDEs when using Maven.
See also
* Apache Continuum
* Apache Jelly
* Hudson
* Jenkins
* List of build automation software
Build automation involves Scripting language, scripting or automating the process of Compiler, compiling computer source code into binary code. Below is a list of notable tools associated with automating build processes.
Make-based
* make (softwa ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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Maven in 5 minutes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apache Maven
Compiling tools
Java development tools
Maven
MAVEN is an American spacecraft orbiting Mars to study the loss of its atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of
the planet's climate and water. The spacecraft name is an acronym for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolu ...
Maven
MAVEN is an American spacecraft orbiting Mars to study the loss of its atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of
the planet's climate and water. The spacecraft name is an acronym for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolu ...
Software using the Apache license