Screaming Penguin

This is all new code . . . its impressive and all and its "2.0" but its all new beta code - be advised. Maven 2.0 will feel very different to a Maven 1.0 user - and perhaps a little strange. But it is a lot simpler to work with and closer to how Maven was always meant to be! The key changes from Maven 1.0 are: * Faster and smaller - The Maven core no longer uses Ant, Jelly or Xerces making it much smaller, have fewer dependencies, and is perfect for embedding in other tools. * Defined build lifecycle - No more prereqs , preGoals and postGoals . The build is a series of well defined phases. This also means that the normal goal names are not used - compile , test and install work for any project type. * Built-in multiple project handling - Use the same goals on a set of projects, and aggregate the results. * Improved SNAPSHOT handling - Snapshots are now checked for updates only once per day by default - though can be configured to be once per build, on a particular interval, or never. A command line option can force a check - making it more like updating from an SCM. * No more properties files - All plugins are now configured from the POM (which is now called pom.xml ). * No more maven.xml - Plugins are now easier to build and integrate, and are the only way to script your builds. (Note that additions may later be made to the POM to allow simple things that scripting was used for, such as goal aliasing). * No more Jelly - Plugins are primarily written in Java, though there are providers for other scripting languages. * Improved repository layout - Maven 2.0 supports both the existing layout, and an improved repository layout that has deeper, partitioned structure making it easier to browse. I have to admit all that stuff sounds great. Not all the plugins are 2.0ized yet - see the plugin matrix for info. Also pay attention to the "which one should I use" stuff. The answer depends very much on on your circumstances, and in particular whether you are new to Maven or not. The simple answer is that we hope you'll try Maven 2.0, and use it if it works for you. However, it is a beta release, so you can expect some unexpected bugs. We'd hate for your first experience with Maven 2.0 to be a bad one - so if you are embarking on a big, complicated or mission critical project - we still recommend Maven 1.0.2 as the latest stable release. If you are already using Maven 1.0 - feel free to try out Maven 2.0, but it may be better to remain on an existing version that is working for you until you need the new features and it covers all of your needs. If you do use Maven 1.0, and would like to upgrade in the future, you should carefully consider following some of the Best Practices listed. These will make your project a lot easier to migrate in the future. The following are the known limitations in the current Maven 2.0 release: * Error handling - there are occasions where Maven 2.0 will drop out with a long stack trace when an error has occurred. If a specific trace is not providing enough information to find out what went wrong, please post the message to JIRA. * Availability of other plugins - While most of the core Maven 1.x plugins have been converted, there are still some not available, or not with the same level of features or documentation. In addition, several 3rd party plugins may not be available. Maven 2.0 cannot execute Maven 1.0 plugins.