Maven Automated Build

Maven is a popular build automation tool for Java projects that simplifies the build process, manages dependencies, and automates many common tasks. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to set up an automated build using Maven.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have Maven installed on your system. To check if Maven is installed correctly, run mvn -v in your command prompt or terminal, and the version information should be displayed.
A Maven project, either created manually or generated using an archetype.

1. Understand Maven's build lifecycle

Maven's build process is organized into a series of phases that make up a build lifecycle. Some common lifecycle phases are:

validate: Validates that the project is structured correctly and all necessary information is available.
compile: Compiles the project's source code.
test: Runs unit tests on the compiled code.
package: Packages the compiled code into a distributable format (e.g., JAR, WAR).
verify: Runs integration tests to verify that the package is valid and meets quality criteria.
install: Installs the package in the local repository for use as a dependency in other projects.
deploy: Deploys the package to a remote repository for sharing with other developers and projects.

2. Build the project using Maven

To perform an automated build of your Maven project, open your command prompt or terminal and navigate to the project's root directory (the one containing the pom.xml file). Then, run the following command:

mvn clean install

This command tells Maven to execute the clean and install phases. The clean phase removes any previously generated build artifacts, and the install phase triggers all the phases leading up to install in the lifecycle, including compile, test, package, and verify.

Maven will display the build progress in the terminal, showing the execution of each phase and the results of the build, including test results and any build errors.

3. Customize the build (optional)

You can customize the build process by modifying the pom.xml file in your Maven project. For example, you can add dependencies, configure build plugins, or define properties. Some common customizations include:

Adding a dependency:

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.example</groupId>
        <artifactId>library</artifactId>
        <version>1.0.0</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Configuring a build plugin:

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.8.1</version>
            <configuration>
                <source>1.8</source>
                <target>1.8</target>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

4. Trigger automated builds on a build server (optional)

You can integrate Maven with build servers like Jenkins, Bamboo, or TeamCity to automate the build process whenever changes are pushed to the project's source code repository. Follow the build server's documentation to set up a build job that executes the Maven build command, e.g., mvn clean install, whenever changes are detected.