Bookmark This PageMaven is a build tool, a project management tool, an abstract container for running build tasks. It is a tool that has shown itself indispensable for projects that graduate beyond the simple and need to start finding consistent ways to manage and build large collections of interdependent modules and libraries which make use of tens or hundreds of third-party components. It is a tool that has removed much of the burden of 3rd party dependency management from the daily work schedule of millions of engineers, and it has enabled many organizations to evolve beyond the toil and struggle of build management into a new phase where the effort required to build and maintain software is no longer a limiting factor in software design.
This work is the first attempt at a comprehensive title on Maven. It builds upon the combined experience and work of the authors of all previous Maven titles, and you should view it not as a finished work but as the first edition in a long line of updates to follow. While Maven has been around for a few years, the authors of this book believe that it has just begun to deliver on the audacious promises it makes. The authors, and company behind this book, Sonatype, believe that the publishing of this book marks the beginning of a new phase of innovation and development surrounding Maven and the software ecosystem that surrounds it.
Pick it up, read some of the text on the pages. Once you reach the end of a page, you'll want to either click on a link if you are looking at the HTML version, or, if you have the printed book, you'll lift up a corner of a page and turn it. If you are sitting next to a computer, you can type in some of the examples and try to follow along. Please don't throw a book this large at anyone in anger.
This book is divided into three parts: Introductory Material, Part I, “Maven by Example”, and Part II, “Maven Reference”. The introductory material consists of two chapters: Chapter 1, Introducing Apache Maven and Chapter 2, Installing and Running Maven. Part I, “Maven by Example” introduces Maven by developing some real examples and walking you through the structure of those examples providing motivation and explanation along the way. If you are new to Maven, start with Part I, “Maven by Example”. Part II, “Maven Reference” is less introduction than reference, each chapter in Part II, “Maven Reference” deals with a focused topic and dives into as much detail as possible about each topic. For example, the Chapter 17, Writing Plugins chapter in Part II, “Maven Reference” deals with writing plugins by providing a few examples and a series of lists and tables.
While both Part I, “Maven by Example” and Part II, “Maven Reference” provide explanation, each part takes a different strategy. Where Part I, “Maven by Example” focuses on the context of a Maven project, Part II, “Maven Reference” focuses on a single topic. You can skip around in the book, Part I, “Maven by Example” is by no means a prerequisite for Part II, “Maven Reference”, but you'll have a better appreciation for Part II, “Maven Reference” if you read through Part I, “Maven by Example”. Maven is best learned by example, but once you've gone through the examples, you are going to need a good reference to start customizing Maven for your own environment.
We didn't write this book so we could send off a Word document to our publisher and go to a launch party to congratulate ourselves on a job well done. This book isn't "done"; in fact, this book will never be completely "done". The subject it covers is constantly changing and expanding, and we consider this work an ongoing conversation with the community. Publishing the book means that the real work has just begun, and you, as a reader, play a pivotal role to helping to maintain and improve this book. If you see something in this book that is wrong: a spelling mistake, some bad code, a blatant lie, then you should tell us, send us an email at: book@sonatype.com.
The ongoing relevance of this book depends upon your feedback. We want to know what works and what doesn't work. We want to know if there is any information you couldn't understand. We especially want to know if you think that the book is awful. Positive or negative comments are all welcome. Of course, we reserve the right to disagree, but all feedback will be rewarded with a gracious response.
This book follows certain conventions for font usage. Understanding these conventions up-front makes it easier to use this book.
- Italic
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Used for filenames, file extensions, URLs, application names, emphasis, and new terms when they are first introduced.
Constant width-
Used for Java class names, methods, variables, properties, data types, database elements, and snippets of code that appear in text.
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Constant width bold -
Used for commands you enter at the command line and to highlight new code inserted in a running example.
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Constant width italic -
Used to annotate output.
The book follows certain conventions for naming and font usage in relation to Apache Maven. Understanding these conventions up-front makes it easier to read this book.
- Compiler plugin
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Maven plugins are capitalized.
creategoal-
Maven goal names are displayed in a constant width font.
- "plugin"
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Maven revolves around the heavy use of plug-ins but you won't find plugin defined in the dictionary. This book writes the term as "plugin" both because it is easier to read and write and because it is a standard throughout the Maven community.
- Maven Lifecycle, Maven Standard Directory Layout, Maven Plugin, Project Object Model
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Core Maven concepts are capitalized whenever they are being referenced in the text.
goalParameter-
A Maven goal parameter is displayed in a constant width font.
compilephase-
Lifecycle phases are displayed in a constant width font.
Sonatype would like to thank the following contributors. The people listed below have provide feedback which has helped improve the quality of this book. Thanks to Marcus Biel, Brian Dols, Mangalaganesh Balasubramanian, Marius Kruger, and Mark Stewart. Special thanks to Joel Costigliola for helping to debug and correct the Spring web chapter. Stan Guillory was practically a contributing author given the number of corrections he posted to the book's Get Satisfation. Thank you Stan. Special thanks to Richard Coasby of Bamboo for acting as the provisional grammar consultant.
Thanks to our contributing authors including Eric Redmond.
Maven: The Definitive Guide by Sonatype, Inc. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.sonatype.com.
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