Apache Maven

Apache Maven is a build, dependency management and project information tool. A project describes itself in a Project Object Model (pom.xml): its coordinates (groupId, artifactId, version), its dependencies, and the plugins that act on it. Maven applies conventions (sources in src/main/java, tests in src/test/java, output in target) and a fixed build lifecycle made of phases such as compile, test, package and deploy; plugins attach goals to those phases. Because the layout and the lifecycle are the same everywhere, a developer who knows one Maven project can build another.

Maven is not a general scripting tool. Behaviour that does not fit the lifecycle is added by configuring or writing a plugin rather than by writing build logic in the POM, and the project’s own documentation states what Maven is and is not on its What is Maven? page. The trade is the opposite of Ant’s: less freedom in exchange for a build that is short, declarative and familiar. The comparison with Ant and Gradle is on Comparing Ant, Maven & Gradle.