This chapter will introduce Apache Maven. If you are an advanced Maven user, you can simply jump into the next chapter. Even for an advanced user, it is highly recommended that you at least brush through this chapter, as it will be helpful to make sure that we are on the same page as we proceed.
In this chapter, we will be discussing about the following topics:
- Installing and configuring Maven on Ubuntu, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows
- IDE integration
- Tips and tricks to use Maven effectively
Apache Maven is popular as a build tool. However, in reality, it goes beyond being just a build tool. It provides a comprehensive build management platform. Prior to Maven, developers had to spend a lot of time in building a build system. There was no common interface. It differed from project to project—each time a developer moved from one project to another, there was a learning curve. Maven filled this gap by introducing a common interface. It ended the era of "the build engineer."