Table of Contents
Topic 2: Maven Build Phases and Goals
Maven’s build process is organized into a series of build phases and goals. Each build phase represents a specific step in the build lifecycle, and each goal is a specific task associated with a phase. Understanding the relationship between phases and goals is essential for effective project management and customization.
Build Phases
The Maven build process is divided into a set of predefined build phases. Each build phase represents a specific stage in the build lifecycle and is responsible for executing a particular set of tasks. The standard build phases in the default lifecycle include:
- validate: Validates project configuration.
- compile: Compiles source code.
- test: Runs tests.
- package: Packages compiled code into an archive.
- install: Installs the packaged artifact in the local repository.
- deploy: Deploys the artifact to a remote repository.
These phases are executed in a predefined order, ensuring a consistent build process across projects.
Goals and Plugins
Goals are specific tasks that are bound to build phases. Each goal represents a particular action to be executed during a phase. Goals are executed by Maven plugins, which are responsible for implementing specific functionalities. For example, the compile phase may include the compiler:compile goal from the maven-compiler-plugin.
Executing Goals
Developers can execute goals using the mvn command followed by the goal’s name. For instance, running mvn compile executes the compiler:compile goal associated with the compile phase.
Customizing Goals and Phases
Maven allows you to customize build phases and goals by binding plugins to specific phases and configuring their goals. This enables you to extend or modify the default behavior of each phase and goal.
By understanding Maven’s build phases and goals, developers can effectively manage their project’s build process and leverage the power of plugins to automate various tasks.