Maven follows a series of defined build phases and build goals to manage the lifecycle of a project. This build lifecycle dictates the sequence of tasks that are executed during the build process. Understanding the Maven build lifecycle is essential for effectively building, testing, and packaging projects. The build lifecycle is divided into three primary phases:
Clean Lifecycle:
- clean: Deletes the output directories and generated files (like target/).
Default Lifecycle: This is the main lifecycle that developers often interact with. It consists of several phases:
validate: Validates the project and its configuration.
compile: Compiles the source code.
test: Executes unit tests using a suitable testing framework.
package: Takes the compiled code and packages it in its distributable format (e.g., JAR, WAR).
verify: Runs any checks to ensure the package is valid and meets quality criteria.
install: Installs the package into the local repository for use as a dependency in other projects.
deploy: Copies the final package to the remote repository for sharing with other developers and projects.
Site Lifecycle:
- site: Generates site documentation for the project.
Each of these phases contains a set of predefined build goals. You can trigger a phase and all the preceding phases will also be executed in order. For example, if you run the mvn install command, it will execute the validate, compile, test, package, verify, and install phases in sequence.
In addition to these standard phases, Maven also supports custom phases and goals through plugins. Plugins can add new phases or modify existing ones, allowing developers to customize the build process to their project's needs.
To further illustrate, here's a simplified visualization of the Maven build lifecycle:
Clean Lifecycle: Default Lifecycle: Site Lifecycle:
clean validate pre-site
compile site
test post-site
package site-deploy
verify
install
deploy