Introduction

Welcome back, Geeks. In this article, we are going to start a fresh topic in software engineering which has been immensely and widely used in software development across the IT industry. We would start with ‘What is Maven?’ and would slowly & gradually dive deep into it.

Maven, a Yiddish word, which means accumulator of knowledge. It came into the picture as an attempt to simplify the build processes in the Jakarta Turbine project. There were several projects, that had their own ANT files, in order to build their projects & share the JAR files. This was a cumbersome task to do so. Hence, the objective was to figure out a standardized way to build the projects, to define clear information about what the project consisted of, along with an easy way to publish the project information, and a way to share JARs across several projects.

This resulted in a tool that could now be used for building and managing any Java-based project. and make the day-to-day work of Java developers easier. Earlier, this was developed for Java projects but now it can be applied the projects of any other language.

What is Maven?

Maven is a widely-used build automation and project management tool primarily used in Java-based projects, although it can be applied to projects in other languages as well. It provides a standardized way to manage and build software projects, making it easier to handle dependencies, compile code, run tests, package applications, and distribute software.

The below diagram is depicting the default project structure created by the Maven for a Java project –

The directory structure of a normal idiomatic Maven project has the following directory entries:

Directory name	Purpose
project home	Contains the pom.xml and all subdirectories.
src/main/java	Contains the testing Java source code (JUnit or TestNG test cases, for example) for the project.
src/main/resources	Contains the deliverable resources for the project, such as property files.
src/test/java	Contains the testing Java sourcecode (JUnit or TestNG test cases, for example) for the project.
src/test/resources	Contains resources necessary for testing.

Why Maven?

Below is the list of reasons why one should use Maven, as a build management tool, to build your projects –

Dependency Management

Maven simplifies the management of project dependencies. It allows you to declare the libraries and external dependencies your project relies on in a standardized format. Maven then automatically downloads and manages these dependencies, reducing the risk of version conflicts.

Consistent Build Process

Maven enforces a standardized and consistent build process across your projects. This consistency makes it easier for team members to understand and work on projects, reducing development friction.

Plugin Ecosystem

Maven has a rich ecosystem of plugins that extend its functionality. You can use plugins for various tasks, such as code compilation, testing, packaging, and deployment. Many plugins are available for popular development and build tools.

Convention over Configuration

Maven follows a “convention over configuration” approach, which means it uses sensible defaults and project structures. This reduces the need for extensive configuration, speeding up project setup.

Build Lifecycle

Maven defines a well-defined build lifecycle with phases like clean, validate, compile, test, package, and deploy. This lifecycle makes it easy to perform common build tasks and follow best practices.

Centralized Repository

The Maven central repository is a central hub for Java libraries and dependencies. It allows you to easily access a vast array of libraries without manually downloading or managing them.

To navigate to the Maven Central Repository – Click Here

Multi-Module Projects

Maven supports multi-module projects, where you can break a large project into smaller, manageable subprojects. This facilitates code organization and modularity.

Dependency Version Management

Maven provides tools for managing and resolving version conflicts between project dependencies, ensuring that the correct versions are used.

Continuous Integration (CI) Integration

Many CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) tools, such as Jenkins and Travis CI, have built-in support for Maven. This streamlines the integration of your projects into automated build and deployment pipelines.

Extensibility

Maven is highly extensible, allowing you to create custom plugins and configure them to meet the specific needs of your project.

Community Support

Maven has a large and active community of users and contributors. This means you can find ample resources, documentation, and support online.

Conclusion

In summary, Maven is a build automation and project management tool that simplifies the build and development process for Java and other projects. It offers dependency management, standardized build lifecycles, and an extensive plugin ecosystem, making it a popular choice for many software development teams and projects.

Still, if you have any questions & queries 🤔 please comment them below and we will try our best to answer them at the earliest.

HAPPY LEARNING!! 😊