The Build Tool: Maven

Sarvar
5 min readMay 11, 2023

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Hey,

My name is Sarvar, and I am a highly skilled Senior Developer at Luxoft India. With years of experience working on cutting-edge technologies, I have honed my expertise in Cloud Operations (Azure and AWS), Data Operations, Data Analytics, and DevOps. Throughout my career, I’ve worked with clients from all around the world, delivering excellent results, and going above and beyond expectations. I am passionate about learning the latest and treading technologies.

Today, we’re talking about Maven, one of the most potent tools available from the Apache Foundation. So let’s find out what Maven is and discover some of its best features. We will see the Apache Maven lifecycle. So let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits Apache Maven.

What is Maven -

For Java-based software projects, Apache Maven is a popular build automation and project management tool. It offers a full range of functionality, such as project creation, dependency management, testing, reporting, and documentation, to assist developers in managing the complete software development lifecycle.

Maven

The Java programming language makes use of Maven as a tool to manage projects and their dependencies. The procedure for creating, evaluating, and packaging Java programs is automated. Code organization, reuse, and developer collaboration are all made simpler by Maven. It makes managing any external libraries or components your project need easier. Maven offers a set of tools that you may use to carry out typical activities like compiling code, running tests, and producing executable files. Maven adheres to a standard project structure.

Why Maven?

Maven is used frequently for the following reasons:

1. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment -

Maven interacts nicely with the continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) procedures used in DevOps. CI/CD pipelines can be set up to automatically run Maven commands for application creation, testing, and deployment. The automation of these pipelines is made easier by Maven’s unified build process and dependency management.

2. Plugin Ecosystem -

Maven has a big ecosystem of plugins that increase its capability. These plugins are capable of performing a wide range of functions, including code coverage analysis, code quality checks, static analysis, code creation, containerization, and platform deployment. The project settings can simply be expanded with plugins to enable more capabilities as necessary.

3. Management of Project Dependencies -

Maven makes managing project dependencies easier. It lets you specify dependencies in a single configuration file (pom.xml), and it downloads and includes the necessary libraries from remote sources automatically. Maven manages dependency resolution, making sure that the right dependencies are used at all times.

4. Build Automation -

Maven streamlines the build procedure by automating the compilation of source code, execution of tests, packaging of applications, creation of documentation, and other build-related operations. Maven provides a consistent and repeatable build process across projects with a predetermined lifecycle and a collection of plugins.

What is Maven Lifecycle -

Maven offers a common set of lifecycle phases that specify the order in which tasks must be completed throughout a project build. Each of these phases, which correspond to various stages of the build process, enables developers to carry out particular activities. The normal Maven lifecycle steps are as follows:

Maven Lifecycle

1. Validate:

Before the build begins, validate the project structure, make sure all relevant data is there, and carry out any other necessary validation.

2. Compile:

Compiles will compiles the source code of the java project.

3. Test:

Runs tests using an appropriate unit testing framework against the compiled source code. It makes sure the code operates as expected and satisfies the established test requirements.

4. Package:

Packages the built code along with any other resources into a format that is easily distributable, such as JAR, WAR, or ZIP files.

5. Integration Test:

Software testing known as “integration testing” involves testing a software application’s various units, modules, or components collectively.

6. Verify:

Verify Performs further tests on the packaged code to make sure it complies with requirements. This can entail performing code analysis or executing integration tests.

7. Install:

Installing an artifact makes it available for use in other projects or local builds by adding it to the local Maven repository.

8. Deploy:

To make the packed artifact available to other developers or projects, it is deployed to a remote repository, such as a shared repository or an artifact repository manager.

Maven Features -

Maven is a well-liked option for build automation and dependency management in Java projects thanks to a number of capabilities. Here are some of Maven’s significant features:

1. Support for Different Project Types -

Maven supports a variety of project types Java projects are not the only ones it can handle. It may be used to create and oversee projects that are written in other languages, including Groovy, Scala, and others. Maven can be tailored to meet certain project requirements and supports a variety of project kinds.

2. Project Object Model (POM) -

Maven uses a Project Object Model (POM) to explain a project and its configuration. Project information, dependencies, plugins, and other project-specific customizations are all contained in the POM, an XML file. It acts as Maven’s primary configuration file.

3. Dependency Management -

Maven’s centralized method for declaring and resolving project dependencies makes handling dependencies easier. In order to guarantee constant and dependable dependency resolution, it automatically downloads the necessary libraries from external sources.

4. Centralized Repository -

A large number of open-source libraries and components are housed in Maven’s centralized repository, known as the Maven Central Repository. You can quickly find and add external dependencies to your projects without having to manually download and manage them.

5. Integration with IDEs -

Maven works well with well-known Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), including NetBeans, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA. IDEs can import Maven projects, identify the project structure, and offer functionality like build execution and automatic dependency management.

Conclusion: Because of its dependability, scalability, and broad plugin ecosystem, Apache Maven is widely used in the Java environment. By automating hard procedures and offering a consistent and standardized method to creating and managing Java projects, it aids in the streamlining of the software development process.

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Here is the End!

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope you found this article informative and helpful. As I continue to explore the latest developments in technology, I look forward to sharing my insights with you. Stay tuned for more articles like this one that break down complex concepts and make them easier to understand.

Remember, learning is a lifelong journey, and it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and developments to stay ahead of the curve. Thank you again for reading, and I hope to see you in the next article!

Happy Learning!

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Sarvar
Sarvar

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