Maven Lifecycle, Phases, Goals, Plugins, and Profiles

Introduction

• Focus on Maven lifecycle, phases, goals, plugins, and profiles.
• Useful for Java interviews.

Maven Lifecycle

• Definition: Sequence of phases executed sequentially.
• Three Lifecycles:
  1. Site: Generates project website.
  2. Clean: Removes target folder from the root directory.
  3. Default: Main lifecycle with 20+ phases.

Running Lifecycles

• Command example: mvn site to generate a site.
• Results in a site folder in the target directory.

Default Lifecycle Phases

• Phase: A step consisting of zero or more goals.
• Key Phases:
  • Compile: Compiles source code.
  • Test Compile: Compiles test code.
  • Test: Runs tests.
  • Package: Packages files into JAR/WAR.
  • Install: Installs to local repository.
  • Deploy: Copies to remote repository.

Skipping Phases

• Example command to skip tests: mvn package -DskipTests

Maven Goals

• Definition: Unit of work, often linked to phases.
• Goals run with specified plugins.

Example

• Running a goal separately: mvn plugin:goal
• Example compile goal: mvn compile

Maven Plugins

• Definition: Java class running goals, assembled in a special way.
• Plugins contain specific goals.
• Official Plugins:
  • Examples: Clean, Compiler, Deploy.

Configuring Plugins

• Use pom.xml to specify configurations.
• Example: Compiler plugin with verbose output.
• Command: mvn compile -Dcompiler.verbose=true

Maven Profiles

• Definition: Set of configurations for different build requirements.
• Allows building projects in different environments.

Creating Profiles

• Defined in pom.xml using <profiles> tag.
• Example: Production profile using <id> and configuration.

Activating Profiles

• Command: mvn -Pprofile-id package
• Automatic Activation: Use <activation> tag for conditions.
  • Activators: property, file, jdk, os

Conclusion

• Comprehensive overview of Maven lifecycle, goals, plugins, and profiles.
• Useful for project setups and interviews.
• Next video: Multi-module project creation and dependency management.