Preface

Introduction

Learning Maven can be a daunting and frustrating task. While there are a number of references for Maven online, there is no single, well-written narrative for introducing Maven that can serve as both an authoritative reference and an introduction. Sonatype maintains two books focused on Maven: an example-driven introduction to Maven, "Maven by Example" and this reference book. If you are new to Maven, you are encouraged to read "Maven by Example" as it will guide you through the first steps you'll take with Maven.

Preface

Maven is a build tool, a project management tool, an abstract container for running build tasks. It is a tool that has shown itself indispensable for projects that graduate beyond the simple and need to start finding consistent ways to manage and build large collections of interdependent modules and libraries which make use of tens or hundreds of third-party components. It is a tool that has removed much of the burden of 3rd party dependency management from the daily work schedule of millions of engineers, and it has enabled many organizations to evolve beyond the toil and struggle of build management into a new phase where the effort required to build and maintain software is no longer a limiting factor in software design.

This work is the first attempt at a comprehensive title on Maven. It builds upon the combined experience and work of the authors of all previous Maven titles, and you should view it not as a finished work but as the first edition in a long line of updates to follow. While Maven has been around for a few years, the authors of this book believe that it has just begun to deliver on the audacious promises it makes. The authors, and company behind this book, Sonatype, believe that the publishing of this book marks the beginning of a new phase of innovation and development surrounding Maven and the software ecosystem that surrounds it.

Acknowledgements

Sonatype would like to thank the following contributors. The people listed below have provided feedback which has helped improve the quality of this book. Thanks to Raymond Toal, Steve Daly, Paul Strack, Paul Reinerfelt, Chad Gorshing, Marcus Biel, Brian Dols, Mangalaganesh Balasubramanian, Marius Kruger, and Mark Stewart. Special thanks to Joel Costigliola for helping to debug and correct the Spring web chapter. Stan Guillory was practically a contributing author given the number of corrections he posted to the book’s Get Satisfaction. Thank you Stan. Special thanks to Richard Coasby of Bamboo for acting as the provisional grammar consultant.

Thanks to our contributing authors including Eric Redmond.

Thanks to the following contributors who reported errors either in an email or using the Get Satisfaction site: Paco Soberón, Ray Krueger, Steinar Cook, Henning Saul, Anders Hammar, "george_007", "ksangani", Niko Mahle, Arun Kumar, Harold Shinsato, "mimil", "-thrawn-", Matt Gumbley. If you see your Get Satisfaction username in this list, and you would like it replaced with your real name, send an email to book@sonatype.com.

Special thanks to Grant Birchmeier for taking the time to proofread portions of the book and file extremely detailed feedback via GetSatisfaction.

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Copyright © 2008-2011 Sonatype, Inc.

Online version published by Sonatype, Inc.

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