Maven Build Phases

Maven build phases are a sequence of steps or stages that Maven follows when executing a build lifecycle. These build phases are standardized and define the order in which Maven executes various goals. Each build phase represents a different stage in the lifecycle of a project.

Below are the standard Maven build phases:

• Validate: This step validates if the project structure is correct. For example – It checks if all the dependencies have been downloaded and are available in the local repository.
• Compile: It compiles the source code, converts the .java files to .class, and stores the classes in the target/classes folder.
• Test: It runs unit tests for the project.
• Package: This step packages the compiled code in a distributable format like JAR or WAR.
• Integration test: It runs the integration tests for the project.
• Verify: This step runs checks to verify that the project is valid and meets the quality standards.
• Install: This step installs the packaged code to the local Maven repository.
• Deploy: It copies the packaged code to the remote repository for sharing it with other developers.

These build phases are executed sequentially by default when you run a Maven build.

In a Maven project, the build process begins with the Validate phase, where Maven validates the project structure. It ensures to Maven standards that the required plugins are available. Next, in the Compile phase, Maven compiles the Java source code into bytecode. Following compilation, the Test phase executes unit tests to validate the code’s functionality. Once tests pass, the Package phase bundles the compiled code, resources, and dependencies into a distributable format, like a JAR or WAR file. Finally, in the Install phase, Maven installs the packaged artifact into the local Maven repository and makes it available for other projects.

Maven is a powerful project management tool that is based on POM (project object model) and used for project build, dependency, and documentation. It is a tool that can be used for building and managing any Java-based project. Maven makes the day-to-day work of Java developers easier and helps with the building and running of any Java-based project. In this article, we will discuss Maven build phases and basic Maven commands.

For more details on how Maven works, how to install Maven and its applications, please visit: Introduction to Apache Maven