What is Maven in DevOps?

Companies always look for shortcuts to simplify their development process, and Maven helps them in this quest by managing project dependencies, automating builds, and enforcing best practices without hassle.

But what is Maven in DevOps?

Maven is an essential tool in software development. This tool is taking modern software management to new heights.

Every application we use today requires completing a set of configurations.

Developers initially completed these configurations manually, but now Maven and other automation tools handle this task.

Maven, a DevOps tool, automates the entire process of building and developing applications.

Other top countries using Apache Maven are the United Kingdom and India, with 414(5.62%) and 487(6.61%) customers, respectively.

So let’s discuss the Introduction of Apache Maven in DevOps, its usage, features, installation process, pros and cons, and most importantly, how to create a project using Maven.

Keep on reading!

What is Maven in DevOps, and What are its elements?

Maven is a well-known and popular open-source build tool developed by Apache Group for building and publishing multiple projects for perfect project management.

Maven helps software developers by providing a framework to build and document the SDLC. Most of the Maven code is in Java, helping projects in Scala, C#, Swift Vs Python, Ruby, etc.

Understanding this critical tool is important to developers and DevOps professionals because it assists in automating tasks like downloading project components and managing dependencies.

This tool saves a lot of developers’ time, ensuring consistency in the project.

This project management tool enables efficient development, testing, and deployment processes.

This tool is valuable because it simplifies project workflows, enhancing collaboration among team members.

Maven uses the POM (Project Object Model) to simplify report development, build scrutiny, and test automation (where AI in quality assurance is taking over the automation aspect), making life easier for Java developers.

Following are the elements of Maven in DevOps:

1. Build Lifecycle

Maven defines a standard build lifecycle that includes phases like compile, test, package, install, and deploy. These phases allow developers to standardize the building process.

2. Project Object Model (POM)

The POM file, typically named pom.xml, defines a Maven project. An XML contains configurations, dependencies, plugins, and all the information developers need to build a project.

3. Dependency Management

Maven makes dependency management easy because you can declare dependencies in the POM file. It automatically downloads any dependencies your project needs and manages their versions.

4. Plugin Architecture

Maven's architecture includes plugins for tasks such as compiling code, running tests, creating JARs, and even deploying the artifactId, among many more.

5. Convention Over Configuration

Maven follows the dictum of "convention over configuration," which puts forth that a project, being conventional, requires less configuration. Standardization makes the building process easier.

6. Centralized Repository

The Maven Central Repository allows developers to share and download dependencies from a central location. Organizations can further set up their repositories to manage internal dependencies.

7. Goals and Phases

The Maven build process is structured in terms of goals and phases. One goal could be a task like compile or test; a phase refers to a set of goals run sequentially.

8. Transitive Dependency Resolution

Maven supports transitive dependency resolution, which means If a project needs a library, Maven will download that library’s dependencies automatically.

9. Integration with IDEs

Maven integrates well with IDEs like Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA, supporting various projects, from web applications to cross-platform app development, making it versatile for developers.

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Why Maven Is Used in DevOps

Maven can be used for the following tasks:

1. We can build a project easily with the help of Maven.

2. We can add jars and other project dependencies with very ease via Maven.

3. Maven provides information to the project (log document, dependency list, unit test reports, etc.)

4. Maven is very useful for a project updating the central repository of JARs and other dependencies.

5. With the help of Maven, we can create as many projects as we want and compile them into output types like JAR, WAR, etc, without any scripting.

6. With Maven, we can easily integrate our project with a source control system (like Subversion or Git).

7. The easier build, uniform build system, quality project information, best development practices, and transparent migration make it an ideal choice.

8. Maven also supports us in managing the build lifecycle of the project, just like the system development life cycle, which includes tasks like compilation, testing, packaging, and deployment of code.

9. Maven includes a well-structured project layout so any developer can easily understand the design and locate files using the directory structure.

10. Maven allows multi-module projects. This helps developers simultaneously perform their jobs on multiple related projects and effectively manage their interdependencies.

11. Further, Maven plugins can add to functionality. Code coverage analysis, static code analysis, and more can be used.

12. Maven is easily customizable so that different developers can personalize the build process to accomplish their needs, making it flexible.

13. Maven makes managing dependencies in your project much more straightforward, as it will always ensure that the right versions of libraries and frameworks are used within your project.

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What is Maven in DevOps Significant Features?

Maven has numerous valuable and practical features that contribute to its wide distribution. Here are some of the most essential:

1. Huge Repository

It grants access to a large repository of user libraries, which constantly grows to fit different project requirements.

Many developers use this repository to integrate third-party external dependencies into their projects.

2. Easier Project Setup

It simplifies the initialization with best practices and predefined project templates.

Such a step helps to initiate projects quickly while keeping the convention alive, enhancing consistency and the maintainability of projects.

3. Dependency Management

It supports the dependency management process wherein the project dependencies are resolved and updated automatically whenever needed.

Such automation frees the system from any manual intervention requirement and keeps projects updated regarding the latest library versions while reducing error-prone conditions.

Automation features bring forth productivity and save developers a lot of time. Also, it’s not a hidden fact that AI and automation streamline data management, so its future is brighter.

4. Backward Compatibility

Maven ensures backward compatibility with the earlier versions, which means the switch and disruption are minimal while upgrading.

This makes it stable enough that developers can comfortably migrate to newer versions without fearing compatibility issues.

5. Strong Reporting System

It offers error and integrity reporting that highlights project anomalies and inconsistencies. Such reports will enable the developers to catch problems early in the development cycle, improving the project's quality.

6. Automatic Parent Versioning

It automatically checks the parent version, which allows developers to control project versions easily.

This characteristic helps control the version and maintains uniformity in projects related to each other in a multi-module structure.

7. Consistency and Maintenance of Standard

Maven applies uniform project structures and practices over any organization's projects. This uniformity creates standardization, helps navigate a project, and helps in teamwork with members.

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8. Extensibility

Maven is very extensible, and any developer can extend its functionality by writing custom plugins depending on project needs.

These could be in scripting language or align with the importance of Java; hence, they can serve a particular project that needs to be customized.

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What is Maven in DevOps Architecture and How Does It Work?

The projects created in Maven also have POM files, which state the essential aspects of the project. Maven architecture depicts how a report is generated following the requirements and how lifecycles are run.

The below diagram depicts how it works with the points explained below:

👉 Developers declare the required jar/library (Spring, Servlet, Hibernate, etc.) on pom.xml.

👉 Developers use some libraries in their source codes.

👉 The compiling and building phase processes the source codes.

👉 At the compiling and building stage, the IDE launches Maven to build the Java project.

👉 Maven reads the required library on pom.xml.

👉 Maven retrieves the required library from an offline repository.

👉 Maven downloads the required library from an online repository.

👉 Then, the Maven will "install" the library to the Java project targeted there.

👉 The compilation and building process produces a Java app (either .jar or .war).

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Maven in DevOps: Build Life Cycle

The Maven builds lifecycle sequence steps to compile a project, ultimately helping execute goals. Just like the web application architecture, it has a proper structure on which it performs.

The phases that the build life cycle performs are as follows:

1. Validation

Confirm that the project is well and that all necessary information is available.

2. Compilation

Compile the source code of the project.

3. Testing

Test compiled source code against a suitable unit testing framework. These tests need not package or deploy code.

4. Packaging

Package the compiled code in a distributable format, such as a JAR.

5. Verify

Verify the results of integration tests to satisfy quality criteria.

6. Install

Install the package to the local repository, where it will be useable as a dependency in other local projects.

7. Deploy

Copy the final package to the remote repository for sharing with other backend developers and projects.

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What are the Three Build Life Cycles of Maven Tool in DevOps?

There are three types of standard life cycles:

1. Default

The default or build lifecycle is the main cycle that generates the whole application. This life cycle has 21 different phases. The process starts with validation and ends at the deployment step.

2. Clean

Clean lifecycle deals with cleaning a project. The clean phase involves the following three steps

👉 Pre-clean

👉 Clean

👉 Post-clean

The command for invoking clean lifestyle phases in Maven is mvn post-clean.

3. Site

The Maven site plugin manages project site documentation and is used to create reports, deploy sites, etc.

The phase comprises four distinct stages:

👉 Pre-site

👉 Site

👉 Post-site

👉 Site-deploy

Lastly, the developed site comprises the project report..

What Is a Build Tool?

A build tool is very important in building since these are the tools that automatically run the process of making applications from source code. The build tool compiles and packages the code, making it executable.

The functions of a build tool include the following activities:

👉 Generates source code.

👉 Generate documentation from source code.

👉 Compile source codes.

👉 Package the compiled codes in JAR files.

👉 Installs the packaged code in the local repository, server, or central repository.

What Is a Maven Repository?

In this section of the Maven tutorial introduction, we are going to learn about Maven repositories and the types of Maven repositories.

A Maven repository is a directory for the actual packaged JAR files or any deployment containing metadata.

Metadata simply refers to the contents of the pertinent POM files; however, it is from this metadata that Maven derives its power to download dependencies.

There are three types of repositories in Maven:

1. Local Repository

A local repository is one's machine, which contains all the project material. This repository stores all the dependency jars.

2. Remote Repository

The other term is a remote repository, which is the repository hosted on a web server where Maven fetches its dependencies.

It works in the same way as the central one. Anything required from the remote repository is first downloaded into the local repository and then used.

3. Central Repository

A central repository means the Maven community provides dependencies, which is especially valuable in projects like API development that rely on shared libraries.

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What is Maven in DevOps Benefits?

Maven helps the developer generate the Java-based project more easily. You can easily add Maven's new features to the Maven configuration project.

The overall app making charges or web development expenses are not affected much by its additional features; that’s one of its significant pros. However, here are some of the benefits of Maven in DevOps below:

1. Improves Performance

It improves the project's performance and the building procedure. The core feature of Maven is the automatic download of project dependency libraries.

2. Manages Project Management

It successfully manages many project management processes like building, documenting, releasing, and distributing the projects, which makes all the project management work quite simple.

3. Simple Project Building

Maven simplifies project building by using predefined project structures and self-executable tasks that can be performed on an application's source code compilation and packaging.

4. Time Efficient

Maven improves project performance by simplifying the building process, minimizing the time required for building, and improving the overall project efficiency.

5. Automation Feature

Some plugins can automatically download Jar files and other dependencies; thus, developers don't need to write code, saving them time wasted in coding.

6. Accessibility

It allows free access to all required project information regarding dependencies, configurations, and metadata, which enhances its effectiveness in project development.

7. Coding Efficient

Developers use it to build projects in different environments effortlessly, as it manages dependencies and project processes, allowing developers to focus solely on coding.

8. Easy Functionality

Adding new dependencies in Maven is easy. The developer can declare the dependencies in the project POM file. This makes it easy to centrally manage dependencies for a project.

Disadvantages of Maven Tool in DevOps

Here are some of the Drawbacks of Maven:

Maven must be installed within the working system, and the appropriate plug-in for the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) creates additional setup needs for the developers.

Suppose the source code of a dependency is available within the repository for an existing dependency. In that case, one can include it only using Maven, thereby curtailing the flexibility of the project.

Sources also claim that Maven's performance might be slower; therefore, one's build time and the effectiveness of the project may be affected in the long run.

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How to Navigate Maven in DevOps?

If you pick Java in the Python Vs Java debate, Maven can be your ultimate tool.

But how do you configure this tool exactly? Don’t worry, let’s take a look below:

1. Configure Maven in Java

The Project Object Model (POM), located in a pom.xml file, manages Maven configuration. The POM brings together everything related to settings and configurations.

2. Use the POM for Configuration

The POM contains all the required configurations for Maven. Additionally, it can be further fine-tuned and customized with the desired behaviour by editing the tag <plugins> in the file pom.xml.

3. Use the Default Settings

Maven uses a default configuration. It helps to eliminate the lengthy, heavy-handed manual configuration that should be entered in the pom.xml file.

The base configuration can enable an easier and faster settings process, differentiating mainly between various project-specific configurations and eliminating general settings.

What is Maven in DevOps Installation Process?

The Maven tool is taking the trends in DevOps to the next level. Here is how you can install it in your system:

1. Check if Java is installed in your system or not. If not, then first download Java to your system.

2. Check if the Java Environment variable is set or not. If not, then set a Java environment variable.

3. Download Maven.

4. Unpack your Maven zip at any place in your system.

5. Add the bin directory of the created directory apache-maven-3.5.3(it depends upon your installation version) to the PATH environment variable and system variable.

6. Open the command prompt and execute the mvn -v command.

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What to Consider While Building a Maven Project?

Project building involves several phases: source compilation, packaging, and deployment. Let's take a look at all the major steps of a Maven project build and understand the process in great detail:

1. Code Generation and Repository Update

Start coding or writing for the Android app development framework. Once done, commit changes in the source code repository to ensure version control and cooperation between developers.

That means all your changes will be tracked and managed throughout development.

2. Configuration Setting

The next one is project configuration. This includes changing pom.xml, which contains all the necessary project settings and dependencies.

Developers can customize plugin details and project configurations based on specific project requirements to make integration and execution easy.

3. Application Building

Starts the build process to compile source, run tests, and package the application into a distributable form such as WAR or EAR file.

Maven automatically does this, simplifying and making development workflows more uniform across projects.

4. Saving Output

After that, you have the output you save as a WAR or EAR file. Since the file comprises all your project's dependencies, it can be used on a target local server or the location given.

5. Deployment

Reach out and deploy the generated file in a production environment or client site.

Maven has backed up deployment by providing all tools and necessary plugins for easy and smooth integration with deployment servers, thus running processes.

6. Documentation Update

Update the application documentation to incorporate every latest change with a date and version number.

The document should be clear and up-to-date to know the functionality of an application properly, allowing productive communication among team members.

7. Report Generation

Finally, create any reports necessary for the application or project. Maven also provides reporting capabilities to help developers develop their builds and codes based on their statistical analysis, quality, and test coverage.

Maven in DevOps: A Step-by-step Tutorial of Creating A Project

Maven’s support for various programming languages for web development enables developers to focus more on the code and less on the setup, making development faster and more efficient.

Firstly, go inside the terminal to create a project and enter the following command: 

You can see the new version on the screen.

Now, run the below commands:

You will see Maven downloading some of the plugins to handle the certain executions.

You can select any number:

👉 Maven will prompt the user for a group

👉 Maven will prompt the user for an artifacts

👉 The version remains the same

👉 The package also remains the same

👉 Enter Y for yes

👉 Press enter

The artifactId you have selected will create the sample project.

GO inside that directory and verify what files are created:

When the pom.xml file is opened, you can see the attributes on the screen. It shows the groupId, artifactId, the JAR file, and the version. You can also add your custom dependencies.

After running the clean command, the sample will be classified as a Maven project.

A pom.xml file is already present in the local repository. The steps execute accordingly.

You will see Maven generate the JAR files in the directory.

Following these steps, you can create a new project according to your own modifications and amendments.

Conclusion

In our blog “What is Maven in DevOps?” We have covered why Maven is used in DevOps.

We also covered the fundamental concepts of Maven, Maven architecture, and its lifecycle.

Furthermore, we have also read about the features, benefits, and disadvantages associated with DevOps as well.

Lastly, we covered the areas of build tools, configuration, and installation. Finally, we reviewed the process of creating a new project in Maven.

Additionally, If you ever require DevOps services, you can contact Arramton Infotech, a web development company.

Our services range from Android app development to iOS app development, provided by our skilled development team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Maven in DevOps, and why is it used?

Ans: Many Java developers use Maven to manage their Java-based applications. It helps organize and manage code files, builds scripts and compiler tools, tracks versioning of compiled code, and manages dependencies, allowing one project to reference specific versions of other projects.

Q. What does the Maven do?

Ans: Maven is a widely used open-source build tool developed by the Apache Group that enables projects to be built, published, and deployed efficiently, facilitating better project management. This tool also allows developers to build and document project lifecycles.

Q. What is Maven in DevOps and Jenkins?

Ans: Maven is the open-source build tool for the management of Java-based projects, and while Jenkins is the CI/CD tool that may run Maven.

Q. What is Maven in DevOps and Gradle?

Ans: Both Maven and Gradle are used for build automation, especially for Java projects.