Maven Tutorial: You probably know that building a software project typically consists of tasks such as downloading dependencies, putting additional jars on a classpath, compiling source code into binary code, running tests, packaging compiled code into deployable artifacts such as JARs, WARs, and ZIP files, and deploying these artifacts to an application server or repository.
If we use Maven in our project or development, it will automatically handle many of the tasks involved and minimize the risks of human error. For example, Maven can create the initial folder structure for an application, compile it, test it, package it up for deployment, and deploy it.
| Post On: | Maven tutorial |
| Post Type: | Maven |
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In this maven tutorial, we are going to discuss this powerful tool and also describe building and managing software projects using a central piece of information.
Why do we need Maven?
If you work on Java projects, then most of the time you need dependencies in the form of libraries or JAR files. You used to have to download and add these manually, as well as upgrade your software stack for your project manually. So there was a clear need for a better build tool that could handle such issues automatically.
When it comes to dependency management, Maven is the solution to all your problems. You simply need to specify the dependencies and software versions you want in a pom.xml file, and Maven will take care of everything else for you. Also, maven helps us in other ways like:
Easy Project Setup: Maven can help reduce the amount of configuration needed by supplying templates called archetypes.
Dependency Management: The maven build system automatically updates, downloads, and validates the compatibility and transitive dependencies (closures dependencies) during build creation. It also reports any issues it finds.
Repository: All project dependencies can be loaded from the local file system and also you can download them from the public repositories or the internet.
What is Maven?
Maven is a powerful build automation tool that can be used for Java-based projects. It is developed by Apache Software Foundation and was formerly part of the Jakarta project. Maven also provides two critical aspects of building software, that are:
- How software is built?
- Also describes the dependencies
Maven can help you manage your projects by downloading Java libraries and Maven plug-ins from one or more repositories. It stores these in a local cache so that the artifacts of your local projects can be updated as well. Additionally, Maven is versatile and can also help you build and manage projects written in C#, Ruby, Scala, and other languages.
The POM file is an XML document that contains all the information Maven needs to build a project. This includes things like dependencies, source directory, plugin goals, and so on. When you execute a Maven command, you’re actually giving it a POM file to use. Maven reads this file to know what to do.
When should someone use Maven?
- If your project has many dependencies.
- When the used dependency version is updated frequently.
- Continuous builds, integration, and testing can be easily handled by using maven.
- When there is a need to generate documentation from source code, try compiling the code and packaging it into JAR or ZIP files.
Other Articles Of Maven Tutorial
- Install Maven on Windows
- Maven Life Cycle
- How To Create Maven Project In Eclipse?
- Maven Interview Questions
Frequently Used Terms Of Maven
Here we are tried to share little bit information about the frequently used terms of Maven.
Maven Local Repository: This is the place where Maven stores all of its project-related jars files, libraries, and dependencies. By default, this folder is named ‘.m2’ and is located in ‘Libraries\Documents.m2’.
Maven Central Repository: The Maven Central Repository is the go-to location for all your project dependency needs. If a required library isn’t found in the local repository, Maven will look to the Central Repository for downloading it into the local repository.
Conclusion:
I hope you have got a clear idea about the maven build and project automation tool. And also in this Maven Tutorial, we have discussed what is Maven and why we are using maven in our project. If still, you have any concerns or doubts then let us know in the comment section.
