Maven Interview Prep Guide
Maven Interview Prep Guide
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Apache Maven Interview Questions & Answer [GUIDE TO CRACK]
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High level Domain Expert in TOP MNCs with 8+ Years of Experience. Also, Handled Around 20+ Projects and Shared his Knowledge by Writing these Blogs for us.
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Maven is a build automation tool that runs on Java and makes project management easier. To specify the dependencies, build configurations, and project structure, it makes use of a
Project Object Model (POM). Common tasks like packaging, testing, and compilation are automated by Maven. By using a central repository, dependency management is streamlined.
Its plugin system adds more functionality and minimises the need for explicit setup by favouring convention over configuration.
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Maven is an open-source tool for project management and build automation that streamlines and standardizes software project builds. It uses a declarative Project Object Model
(POM) to configure projects, manages dependencies, and provides a consistent framework for tasks like compilation, testing, and distribution. Maven promotes a convention-over-
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Maven plugins enhance the build process in Maven by providing specific functionalities or tasks. They integrate with different phases of the build lifecycle, handling tasks like
dependency resolution, code compilation, testing, packaging, documentation generation, and more. Plugins make it possible to customize and automate various aspects of the build
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Maven plugins can be broadly categorized into Build plugins, Reporting plugins, and Extension plugins. Build plugins are the most common and are responsible for tasks during the
build lifecycle. Reporting plugins generate reports on the project. Extension plugins add new capabilities to Maven.
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5. Could you please explain what Clean, Default, and Site mean in the context of Maven?
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Clean: Removing the target directory and any additional generated files is the task of the Clean phase of the build lifecycle. It guarantees a new beginning for the build.
Default: The main build lifecycle, which comprises standard build tasks like packaging, testing, and compilation, is called the Default phase.
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Test classes in Maven are executed during the “test” phase of the build lifecycle. Running the command mvn test will compile and run the tests in the project.
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A Maven repository is a directory or an online location where Maven packages (JARs, WARs, etc.) are stored and can be retrieved. It serves as a centralized storage for project
dependencies.
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Maven follows a plugin-based architecture. It uses a Project Object Model (POM) to describe the project and its dependencies. Plugins are configured in the POM to define the build
process. Maven’s build lifecycle defines a sequence of phases, and plugins are bound to these phases to execute specific tasks.
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Maven architecture
9. Describe the naming conventions that Maven projects usually adhere to.
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The Clean Lifecycle in Maven consists of three phases: “pre-clean,” “clean,” and “post-clean.” These phases are executed in sequence during the “clean” goal and are responsible for
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Definition Maven’s default behavior and standardization Explicitly specified settings in the pom.xml file.
Purpose Minimize the need for explicit configuration Allow customization beyond the default conventions.
Example Standard project layout and naming conventions Customized build settings, plugin configurations, etc.
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In Apache Maven, a “goal” is a specific task or objective performed during the build process. Goals are defined by plugins and represent individual steps like compiling code, running
tests, or packaging a project. When you run a Maven build, you specify the goals to execute, guiding the build process to achieve desired outcomes.
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A dependency having a scope of “system” is referred to as a “system dependency” in Maven. It entails giving a local path to a system JAR file. For portability reasons, though, it is not
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While mvn install installs the package in the local repository so that it is accessible for use in other projects, mvn package compiles and packages the code into a distributable format.
15. After a Maven project has been assembled, where can one find the class files?
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Following Maven project assembly, compiled class files reside in target/classes. Any produced JAR files can be found in the target directory. Project configurations may influence these
locations. Default conventions are adhered to unless customized. Verify the actual locations based on project settings.
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Snapshot Definition: A snapshot in Maven is a version of a project indicating it’s in active development.
Version Format: It is denoted by appending “-SNAPSHOT” to the version number (e.g., “1.0-SNAPSHOT”).
Dynamic Updates: Maven can automatically update dependencies to the latest snapshot during builds.
To exclude a dependency in Maven, add an element within the section in your pom.xml file, specifying the groupId and artifactId of the dependency you want to exclude.
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Passion for Information: They have a genuine passion for gathering and sharing information about their area of expezrtise.
Trusted Source: Mavens are considered reliable and trustworthy sources of information within their community.
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Purpose: Maven Clean removes build artifacts and files generated by Maven during the build process.
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Target Directory: The primary focus is on deleting the target directory, which is the default output location for compiled classes and build artifacts.
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Apache Maven is a project administration and build automation tool that streamlines the software development procedure by managing project dependencies, building and packaging
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As a configuration blueprint, the Project Object Model (POM) in Maven is an XML file located at the project root called pom.xml. It includes dependencies, build settings, plugins,
repositories, documentation configurations, and project details (groupId, artifactId, version). Maven is guided by the POM in managing the dependencies and lifecycle of the project.
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Maven Repository is a central storage for project artifacts and dependencies. It can be local (on a developer’s machine), remote (shared across a team), or central (publicly accessible).
23. Differentiate between Maven’s clean, validate, compile, test, and package phases.
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validate: Verifies that the project is accurate and that all required information is at hand.
package: Takes the compiled code and packages it into a distributable format, such as JAR or WAR.
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Maven has three built-in lifecycles: clean, default, and site. Each lifecycle consists of phases, and each phase represents a specific stage in the lifecycle. For example, the default
lifecycle includes phases like compile, test, package, install, and deploy.
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A Maven Plugin is a set of goals that can be executed within a specific phase of the build lifecycle. Plugins provide additional functionality not natively available in Maven and are
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Maven manages dependencies through the POM file, specifying artifact coordinates and versions. It downloads dependencies from repositories, including local, central, and remote
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Transitive dependencies are dependencies of a project’s direct dependencies. Maven automatically resolves and includes transitive dependencies, ensuring that the required libraries
for the project are available, simplifying the dependency management process.
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The “scope” attribute in a Maven dependency defines the lifecycle phase in which the dependency is available. Common scopes include compile (default), test, runtime, and provided. It
helps control the classpath and ensures that dependencies are available when needed.
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Maven facilitates multi-module projects by allowing the creation of parent and child POM files. The parent POM coordinates the build process, while child modules can inherit
configuration, dependencies, and plugins from the parent, promoting consistency across the project.
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30. Explain the purpose of Maven Profiles.
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Maven Profiles allow developers to customize the build process based on different environments or requirements. Profiles can include or exclude certain plugins, dependencies, or
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Use Cases: generates executable JARs.produces distribution packages with scripts, configuration files, and additional files.
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SNAPSHOT versions indicate a work in progress and are used for development builds. Maven checks for SNAPSHOT updates regularly. RELEASE versions are considered stable and
are not checked for updates. It is recommended not to use SNAPSHOT versions in production.
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Maven Archetypes are project templates that help bootstrap the creation of new projects. They define the project structure, default configurations, and often include sample code.
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Maven supports project inheritance through parent POMs. Child projects inherit configurations, dependencies, and plugins from their parent. This promotes consistency across
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Framework Integration: Works seamlessly with popular Java testing frameworks (e.g., JUnit, TestNG).
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publicly accessible. These repositories ensure efficient dependency management and distribution.
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The Maven Repository Lifecycle involves three repositories: the local repository on a developer’s machine, a remote repository shared across a team, and the central repository that is
37. How does Maven handle versioning of artifacts?
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Maven uses a versioning scheme (e.g., MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) to manage artifact versions. SNAPSHOT versions indicate development versions, while non-SNAPSHOT versions are
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Standard and custom reports as well as HTML-based documentation for projects are produced by the Maven Site Plugin. Through integration with the Maven build lifecycle, reports
from sub-modules can be aggregated and documentation can be generated automatically. The produced documentation can be published to a web server for wider distribution and is
readily available.
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Maven’s goals include simplifying project management, ensuring a standardized build process, managing dependencies efficiently, and providing a consistent structure for projects. It
seeks to improve developer collaboration and expedite the software development lifecycle.
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Maven does not handle cyclic dependencies well. It explicitly discourages cyclic dependencies in multi-module projects. Cycles can lead to build errors and runtime issues. It’s
essential to design projects with a clear module structure and avoid circular dependencies. Refactoring may be necessary to eliminate cyclic dependencies.
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Dependency Version Rules: Enforces rules on dependency versions to ensure adherence to versioning guidelines.
Java Version Check: Ensures that the project is developed and tested against a specific Java version.
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The Maven Dependency Plugin provides commands to analyze and manipulate project dependencies. It can be used to analyze classpaths, copy dependencies, and analyze plugin and
project dependencies.
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Dependency Mediation: Maven uses Dependency Mediation to handle transitive dependency conflicts.
Nearest Definition: Maven selects the version of a conflicting dependency that is closest to your project in the dependency tree.
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The Maven “install” phase is part of the build lifecycle. It compiles and packages a project’s code, then installs the resulting artifacts (e.g., JAR files) into the local Maven repository. This
makes them available for other projects on the same machine that declare a dependency on these artifacts. The “install” phase is commonly used during development.
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The Maven Failsafe Plugin is used to execute integration tests during the Maven build process. It separates integration tests from unit tests, tolerates test failures, and is configured in
the pom.xml file. The plugin is often bound to the integration-test and verify phases in the Maven lifecycle.
46. How can you skip the tests during the Maven build?
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Skip test execution in Maven with -DskipTests (e.g., mvn clean install -DskipTests).
Alternatively, skip the entire test phase, including compilation, with -Dmaven.test.skip=true.
Choose based on whether you want to skip only test execution or the entire test phase.
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In Maven, the “reactor” manages the build order and dependencies in multi-module projects. It calculates the sequence in which modules should be built, supports incremental and
parallel builds, and is implicitly invoked when running Maven commands like mvn clean install. The reactor ensures modules are built in the correct order based on their dependencies.
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The Maven WAR Plugin is used to package and deploy Java web applications as WAR files. It includes features for resource inclusion, handling dependencies, configuring web.xml, and
supports both exploded and archived deployments. It simplifies the process of building and managing Java web projects.
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Release Goals: Goals like release:prepare and release:perform automate version updates and SCM tagging.
Versioning: Follows a major.minor.patch versioning convention.release:prepare updates version numbers in POM files.
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The “validate” phase in Maven checks and ensures the correctness of the project structure and configuration, including the validity of the POM file, the availability of dependencies, and
proper plugin configuration. It occurs early in the build lifecycle and can be explicitly invoked with the command mvn validate.
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The Assembly Plugin is used to create an assembly of artifacts, allowing the generation of custom distribution packages, including scripts, configuration files, and other resources.
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System scope dependencies are used for artifacts that are not available in Maven repositories. They are usually not recommended due to portability issues, but Maven allows their
usage.
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Certainly! The Maven dependency:tree command generates a hierarchical tree view of a Maven project’s dependencies, including both direct and transitive dependencies. It helps
developers understand which libraries are utilized by their project and their relationships within the dependency tree. This tool aids in identifying dependency conflicts and managing
dependencies effectively.
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Inclusion of External Resources: Fetches resources, like configuration files, from remote repositories.
Build Phase Integration: Executes during the resource phase of the Maven build lifecycle.
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Maven allows the activation of build profiles based on conditions specified in the POM or external properties. Profiles can be activated by Maven properties, JDK versions, or other
criteria.
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Prepare: Executing mvn release:prepare validates code, updates versions, and prepares for the release.
Versioning: It increments the release version, removing -SNAPSHOT from the version number.
57. How to skip the entire Maven test phase, including Surefire and Failsafe plugins?
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You can skip both Surefire and Failsafe plugins’ tests in Maven by appending -DskipTests to your Maven command, like mvn clean install -DskipTests. This flag bypasses the execution
of all tests during the build process, enabling faster builds when tests aren’t necessary. It prevents Surefire (for unit tests) and Failsafe (for integration tests) plugins from running,
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The Maven Dependency Plugin handles the resolution, retrieval, and management of project dependencies declared in the pom.xml file, ensuring the inclusion of required external
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In Maven, the “generate-sources” phase is part of the build lifecycle and is used to execute tasks that generate source code for the project. This phase is typically employed for code
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generation processes, ensuring that the generated code is available before the compilation phase. Configuration for tasks in this phase is done in the Maven POM file, often using
60. How does Maven handle SNAPSHOT dependencies in the local repository?
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Maven stores SNAPSHOT dependencies in the local repository with timestamped versions. It checks for updates daily and prefers local SNAPSHOT versions for efficiency, updating
61. What is the purpose of the Maven Javadoc Plugin?
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The Maven Javadoc Plugin is used in Maven-based Java projects to automatically generate HTML documentation from Javadoc comments in the source code. It integrates with the
Maven build lifecycle, providing standardized and customizable documentation for classes and methods. Developers can use it to maintain consistent and up-to-date API
documentation.
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Before Integration Tests: It occurs before the execution of integration tests, specifically before the “integration-test” phase.
Setup Tasks: Used for preparing the environment by performing tasks like configuring external services or initializing databases.
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In Maven, optional dependencies are declared using the element in the POM file. They are dependencies that are not required for the main functionality of the project but may be needed
for specific features. Optional dependencies are not included in the classpath by default, and dependent projects can choose to include or exclude them using the element.
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Automation of Documentation: The Maven Site Lifecycle automates the generation of project documentation, making it easier for developers to maintain and keep documentation up-
to-date.
Report Generation: The lifecycle includes phases for generating various reports related to the project, covering aspects such as code quality, testing results, and build information.
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The Maven Enforcer Plugin enforces rules in Maven builds. Configured in the pom.xml, it ensures alignment of dependency versions, bans specific dependencies, and checks for Java
version compliance. It can enforce plugin versions and custom project rules, providing a way to maintain consistency and adherence to project standards during the build process.
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To run a specific Maven profile, use the -P option followed by the profile name.
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understanding the Maven project setup. Goals like “help:describe” provide specifics about TOP
The Maven Help Plugin in Apache Maven offers commands to retrieve information about a project, such as plugin details and effective configurations. It aids in troubleshooting and
plugins, while “help:effective-pom” shows the merged Project Object Model (POM).
68. Explain Maven’s “package” phase.
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The “package” phase in Maven is a build lifecycle step that compiles source code, copies resources, and packages them into a distributable format (e.g., JAR). The resulting artifact is
stored in the target directory. This phase is essential for creating deployable artifacts from your project.
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Maven supports specifying version ranges for dependencies. For example, “[1.0,2.0)” means any version from 1.0 (inclusive) to 2.0 (exclusive). The recommended practice is to use
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The Compiler Plugin is used to compile the source code of the project. It allows configuration of the Java compiler version and other compilation parameters.
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Artifact Generation: Execute earlier Maven phases like “clean,” “compile,” and “package” to generate the project’s artifact (e.g., JAR file).
Remote Repository: Specify a remote repository in the Maven project configuration where the artifact will be deployed.
POM File: Deploy the project’s POM (Project Object Model) file along with the artifact to provide metadata about the project.
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Functionality: Condenses all dependencies and compiled classes from a project into a single JAR file.
Advantage: Removes the need to manage multiple JARs, simplifying distribution and execution.
Use Case: Especially helpful for Java programmes that require external dependencies.
73. How can you exclude a dependency during the Maven build process?
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This prevents the specified dependency from being included in the build.
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The Maven SCM (Software Configuration Management) Plugin integrates Apache Maven with version control systems (e.g., Git, SVN). It enables tasks like checking out/updating code,
tagging, branching, and generating changelogs. This streamlines version control integration in Maven projects, enhancing software development workflows.
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The “integration-test” phase in Maven is part of the build lifecycle and is used to run integration tests that validate the interaction between different components or modules in a project.
It occurs after the “verify” phase and before the “install” phase. Developers often configure the “maven-failsafe-plugin” to execute integration tests during this phase.
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The order in which plugin configurations are specified in the POM file dictates the Maven plugin execution order. By implementing plugins and their objectives in accordance with their
order in the section, it employs a top-down methodology. Plugins are executed in a certain order determined by their placement within the section; explicitly defined executions take
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prevent issues from previous builds. The command to execute it is mvn clean.
The Maven Clean Plugin is used to remove the generated build artifacts, ensuring a clean project state before starting a new build. It deletes output directories like “target,” helping to
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78. How can you skip the entire Maven build lifecycle?
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Timing in Lifecycle: The “pre-site” phase occurs early in the Maven Site Lifecycle, specifically before the site documentation is generated.
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Purpose of the Phase: The phase is designed for pre-processing tasks and setup activities that need to be completed before generating the project’s site documentation.
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Artifact Installation: Maven Install Plugin installs a project’s compiled artifacts (like JAR files) into the local Maven repository.
Local Repository: The local repository, located in ~/.m2/repository, acts as a cache for project dependencies.
Dependency Resolution: Installed artifacts can be used as dependencies by other Maven projects on the same machine.
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Maven handles plugin versioning through the section in the pom.xml file. Plugin versions are specified for each plugin, ensuring consistency and avoiding unexpected behavior due to
version mismatches. Explicitly defining plugin versions helps maintain compatibility as plugins evolve.
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As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, there is no “analyze-only” goal for the Maven Dependency Plugin. It’s recommended to refer to the latest documentation or release
notes for the most accurate and up-to-date information on plugin goals and features.
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The Maven RPM Plugin is used to create RPM packages for Java projects within the Apache Maven build process. RPM packages are commonly used for distributing and installing
software on Linux systems, particularly those based on Red Hat Package Manager (RPM). The plugin helps organize project output into the RPM structure, making it easier to deploy
84. How can you run a specific Maven goal from the command line?
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Navigate to your Maven project directory (where the pom.xml file is located).
Use the command mvn [goal] to run a specific Maven goal (replace [goal] with the goal’s name).
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In standard Apache Maven lifecycles, there is no officially defined “pre-clean” phase. If you encounter the term, it likely refers to custom configurations or plugins specific to a project.
The standard clean lifecycle includes “clean” for removing generated files. If someone mentions “pre-clean,” it’s essential to check project-specific documentation or configurations for
86. What is the Maven Dependency Plugin’s “purge-local-repository” goal used for?
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Dependency Plugin Purpose: The Maven Dependency Plugin is used to manage dependencies in a Maven project.
Common Goals: Common goals include tasks like copying dependencies, analyzing dependencies, and resolving artifacts.
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Built-in Reporting Plugins: Maven includes plugins like Surefire and Javadoc for common reports, automatically bound to relevant build phases.
Automatic Execution: Reporting plugins execute during specific lifecycle phases without explicit configuration, generating reports like test results.
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ava classes and resources that have been compiled are packaged into a Java Archive (JAR) file using the Maven JAR Plugin. It enables developers to add non-Java resources, alter
naming and versioning, and configure the manifest of the JAR file. The plugin runs automatically during the package phase and is essential to the Maven build lifecycle.
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The Maven Wagon Plugin is not a standalone plugin but part of the Apache Maven Wagon project. It facilitates communication between Maven and various repositories, supporting
multiple transport protocols like HTTP, FTP, and SCP. Wagon handles authentication, proxy settings, and is used internally during the deployment phase for uploading artifacts to remote
repositories.
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In Apache Maven, goals are specific tasks associated with plugins that are executed during different phases of the build lifecycle. Maven plugins define what actions to perform, and
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goals specify which tasks within a plugin to execute. Goals can be invoked via the command line or configured in the project’s POM file. Examples include the compile goal for compiling
source code and the install goal for installing artifacts into the local repository.
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