Chapter 1, Apache Maven – Introduction and Installation, provides users with a quick introduction and installation reference to Apache Maven. By the end of this chapter, users will have a Maven project running on their systems.

Chapter 2, Installing m2eclipse, serves as a reference for users to install the m2eclipse plugin and also provides Maven integration for Eclipse. By the end of this chapter, users will have m2eclipse installed on their systems and ready to be used.

Chapter 3, Creating and Importing Projects, starts with the Maven project structure, introduces core aspects and concepts, and guides you toward creating and importing Maven projects using the m2eclipse plugin. By the end of this chapter, users will be familiar with the core concepts of the Maven project structure, and they'll be able to create and import Maven projects.

Chapter 4, Building and Running a Project, introduces users to different build lifecycles and teaches them how to view the m2eclipse console and build and run projects. By the end of this chapter, users will be familiar with the build lifecycle and will be competent at building and running projects using m2eclipse.

Chapter 5, Spicing Up a Maven Project, teaches users to create a simple web application, shows ways to customize it, and provides guides on how to write and run unit tests. By end of this chapter, users will learn to create web applications using m2eclipse and change the POM file to generate reports against unit tests.

Chapter 6, Creating a Multimodule Project, intends to introduce the concept of multimodule projects and teaches users to create, build, and run the project. At the end of this chapter, users will know how to create and run a multimodule Maven project using the m2eclipse plugin.

Chapter 7, Peeking into m2eclipse, dives into the m2eclipse plugin and introduces different features and aspects that makes life easier. By the end of this chapter, users will be familiar with every aspect of m2eclipse and will be able to use it efficiently and with ease.

It is recommended that you have a laptop or a desktop with the following specifications for the best performance during development:

This book is aimed at beginners and existing developers who want to learn how to use Maven for Java projects. It is assumed that you have experience in Java programming and that you have used an IDE for development.

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Plugins and goals can be included declaratively in the pom file to customize the execution of a project."

A block of code is set as follows:

<project>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>com.packt.mvneclipse</groupId>
    <artifactId>mvneclipse</artifactId>
    <version>1.2</version>
</project>

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

<!--General project Information -->
  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
  <groupId>com.packt.mvneclipse</groupId>
  <artifactId>hello-project</artifactId>
  <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
  <name>hello-project</name>
  <url>http://maven.apache.org</url>
  <properties>1
  <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
</properties>

<repositories>
  <repository>
    <snapshots>
      <enabled>false</enabled>
    </snapshots>
    <id>central</id>
    <name>Maven Repository Switchboard</name>
    <url>http://repo1.maven.org/maven2</url>
  </repository>
</repositories>

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

set PATH =%PATH%;%M2_HOME%\bin

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "To make m2eclipse use the external Maven, navigate to Window | Preference in Eclipse, and the Preference window appears."

Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to <[email protected]>, and mention the book title via the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.