Summary

In this chapter you learned about the Maven project management tool. On its own, it is quite powerful, but combined with the myriad of plug-ins available you have a real powerhouse of a tool. No longer are you bogged down with trying to determine what version of a particular JAR you are using-the answer is right there in your descriptor. As more and more projects move to Maven, versions will become easier to identify. To get the most out of Maven, you need to start using it and conversing with other users, a group that is growing larger every day. Getting up and running with Maven shouldn't take too long-I find that I spend the most time actually tracking down dependencies, as many of these are not well documented in the projects that I rely on, which is distressing. But once I've done it, I don't have to worry about it (until the next release). So, in closing, good luck with your project, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy using Maven as much as I have.