My Maven starter template

Maven is to Java what npm is to JavaScript. It can be a harsh mistress or your best companion. It depends

Beyond dependencies and builds

Maven removes the need to download and manages your dependencies. Unfortunately it doesn't come with mvn install <packagename> like npm (or I haven't learned that yet), so keeping that pom.xml current is a little PITA. However once we make peace with it, the power of plugins makes development in auto-pilot a breeze. Some of the things you can do:

• Generate a project site
• Generate various reports: code quality, code coverage
• Run unit tests

Check out the complete list to get an idea. I'm specifically fond of the site generation capability. It allows us to keep your documentation in the same repository as the project, so we have one place less to worry about.

We simply add /src/site/ to our project and content can be created in multiple formats. My favorite one is Markdown. Besides my handcrafted pages, I generate reports:

• Issue management
• Licenses
• Plugins
• Source code location
• Team
• JavaDoc
• PMD and CPD
• Surefire (Test results) and JaCoCo (Test coverage)

All this involved a bit of boilerplate in the pom.xml so I keep a template around

that I copy into any new pom.xml file. On special fancy I use: I extracted all version numbers from plugin and dependencies and keep them in an alphabetical sorted property section. This way I avoid to have multiple versions of related dependencies around. Enjoy!

<properties>
  <!-- Dependency Versions -->
  <darvino.version>2.5.0</darvino.version>
  <domino.jna.version>0.9.26</domino.jna.version>
  <domino.version>10.0.1</domino.version>
  <expiringmap.version>0.5.9</expiringmap.version>
  <flexmark.version>0.60.2</flexmark.version>
  <grpc.version>1.24.0</grpc.version>
  <gson.version>2.8.5</gson.version>
  <guava.version>28.2-jre</guava.version>
  <ibm.commons.version>9.0.0</ibm.commons.version>
  <icu4j.version>65.1</icu4j.version>
  <javasimon.version>4.2.0</javasimon.version>
  <java.version>1.8</java.version>
  <joda.version>2.10</joda.version>
  <junit.platform.version>1.5.2</junit.platform.version>
  <junit.jupiter.version>5.6.0</junit.jupiter.version>
  <log4j.version>2.12.1</log4j.version>
  <lorem.version>2.1</lorem.version>
  <micrometer.version>1.3.5</micrometer.version>
  <mustache.version>0.9.5</mustache.version>
  <mockito.version>3.3.3</mockito.version>
  <netty.ssl.version>2.0.30.Final</netty.ssl.version>
  <pmd.version>6.22.0</pmd.version>
  <saxon.version>10.0</saxon.version>
  <slf4j.version>1.7.28</slf4j.version>
  <yaml.version>1.25</yaml.version>
  <vertx.version>4.0.0-milestone4</vertx.version>

  <!-- Maven Versions -->
  <maven.version>[3.6,)</maven.version>

  <!-- Plugin Versions -->
  <eclipse.plugin.version>2.10</eclipse.plugin.version>
  <maven.compiler.plugin.version>3.8.1</maven.compiler.plugin.version>
  <maven.enforcer.plugin.version>3.0.0-M3</maven.enforcer.plugin.version>
  <maven.jacoco.plugin.version>0.8.5</maven.jacoco.plugin.version>
  <maven.jar.plugin.version>3.2.0</maven.jar.plugin.version>
  <maven.javadoc.plugin.version>3.1.1</maven.javadoc.plugin.version>
  <maven.jxr.plugin.version>3.0.0</maven.jxr.plugin.version>
  <maven.project.info.reports.plugin.version>3.0.0</maven.project.info.reports.plugin.version>
  <maven.resources.plugin.version>3.1.0</maven.resources.plugin.version>
  <maven.site.plugin.version>3.8.2</maven.site.plugin.version>
  <maven.source.plugin.version>3.2.0</maven.source.plugin.version>
  <maven.surefire.plugin.version>3.0.0-M4</maven.surefire.plugin.version>
  <os.maven.plugin.version>1.6.2</os.maven.plugin.version>
  <pegdown.doclet.version>1.3</pegdown.doclet.version>
  <pmd.plugin.version>3.12.0</pmd.plugin.version>
  <protobuf.maven.plugin.version>0.6.1</protobuf.maven.plugin.version>
  <shade.version>3.2.1</shade.version>
  <versions.maven.plugin.version>2.7</versions.maven.plugin.version>

  <!-- Miscellaneous settings -->
  <project.autorelease>true</project.autorelease>
  <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
  <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
  <finalName>${project.artifactId}-${project.version}</finalName>

 </properties>

 <prerequisites>
  <maven>${maven.version}</maven>
 </prerequisites>

 <organization>
  <name>HCL Labs</name>
  <url>[FIXME: URL HERE]</url>
 </organization>

 <ciManagement>
  <system>CircleCI</system>
  <url>[FIXME: Link to CI]</url>
 </ciManagement>
 <issueManagement>
  <system>JIRA</system>
  <url>[FIXME: URL to Issue tracker]</url>
 </issueManagement>
 <developers>
  </developer>
  <developer>
   <name>Stephan H. Wissel</name>
   <roles>
    <role>Architect</role>
    <role>Developer</role>
   </roles>
   <url>https://github.com/stwissel</url>
  </developer>
 </developers>
 <licenses>
  <license>
   <name>The Apache Software License, Version 2.0</name>
   <url>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt</url>
   <distribution>manual</distribution>
  </license>
 </licenses>
 <scm>
  <developerConnection>scm:git:[FIXME: GIT URL]</developerConnection>
 </scm>

 <build>

  <plugins>
   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.enforcer.plugin.version}</version>
    <executions>
     <execution>
      <id>enforce-maven</id>
      <goals>
       <goal>enforce</goal>
      </goals>
      <configuration>
       <rules>
        <requireMavenVersion>
         <version>${maven.version}</version>
        </requireMavenVersion>
       </rules>
      </configuration>
     </execution>
    </executions>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.compiler.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <source>${java.version}</source>
     <target>${java.version}</target>
    </configuration>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.source.plugin.version}</version>
    <executions>
     <execution>
      <id>attach-sources</id>
      <goals>
       <goal>jar</goal>
      </goals>
     </execution>
    </executions>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-eclipse-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${eclipse.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <downloadSources>true</downloadSources>
     <downloadJavadocs>true</downloadJavadocs>
    </configuration>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.javadoc.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <doclet>ch.raffael.doclets.pegdown.PegdownDoclet</doclet>
     <docletArtifact>
      <groupId>ch.raffael.pegdown-doclet</groupId>
      <artifactId>pegdown-doclet</artifactId>
      <version>1.3</version>
     </docletArtifact>
     <useStandardDocletOptions>false</useStandardDocletOptions>
     <failOnError>false</failOnError>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
     <execution>
      <id>attach-javadocs</id>
      <goals>
       <goal>jar</goal>
      </goals>
     </execution>
    </executions>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.jacoco</groupId>
    <artifactId>jacoco-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.jacoco.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <excludes>
      <exclude>[FIXME: Do we need to exclude files from tests?]</exclude>
     </excludes>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
     <execution>
      <goals>
       <goal>prepare-agent</goal>
      </goals>
     </execution>
     <execution>
      <id>report</id>
      <phase>prepare-package</phase>
      <goals>
       <goal>report</goal>
      </goals>
     </execution>
    </executions>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.surefire.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <includes>
      <include>**/*Test.java</include>
      <include>**/*Tests.java</include>
      <include>**/*TestCase.java</include>
     </includes>
    </configuration>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${versions.maven.plugin.version}</version>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-project-info-reports-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.project.info.reports.plugin.version}</version>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-site-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.site.plugin.version}</version>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-pmd-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${pmd.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <linkXRef>true</linkXRef>
     <targetJdk>${java.version}</targetJdk>
    </configuration>
    <dependencies>
     <dependency>
      <groupId>net.sourceforge.pmd</groupId>
      <artifactId>pmd-core</artifactId>
      <version>${pmd.version}</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
      <groupId>net.sourceforge.pmd</groupId>
      <artifactId>pmd-java</artifactId>
      <version>${pmd.version}</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
      <groupId>net.sourceforge.pmd</groupId>
      <artifactId>pmd-javascript</artifactId>
      <version>${pmd.version}</version>
     </dependency>
    </dependencies>
   </plugin>

  </plugins>

 </build>

 <reporting>
  <plugins>

   <plugin>
    <!-- This allows to use markdown in JavaDoc -->
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.javadoc.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <doclet>ch.raffael.doclets.pegdown.PegdownDoclet</doclet>
     <docletArtifact>
      <groupId>ch.raffael.pegdown-doclet</groupId>
      <artifactId>pegdown-doclet</artifactId>
      <version>${pegdown.doclet.version}</version>
     </docletArtifact>
     <useStandardDocletOptions>false</useStandardDocletOptions>
     <failOnError>false</failOnError>
    </configuration>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-pmd-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${pmd.plugin.version}</version>
    <configuration>
     <linkXRef>true</linkXRef>
     <targetJdk>${java.version}</targetJdk>
    </configuration>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-surefire-report-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.surefire.plugin.version}</version>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.jacoco</groupId>
    <artifactId>jacoco-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.jacoco.plugin.version}</version>
    <reportSets>
     <reportSet>
      <reports>
       <!-- select non-aggregate reports -->
       <report>report</report>
      </reports>
     </reportSet>
    </reportSets>
   </plugin>

   <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-jxr-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${maven.jxr.plugin.version}</version>
   </plugin>

  </plugins>
 </reporting>

 <dependencies>

  <!-- Test dependencies -->

  <dependency>
   <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
   <artifactId>mockito-core</artifactId>
   <version>${mockito.version}</version>
   <scope>test</scope>
  </dependency>

  <dependency>
   <groupId>org.junit.platform</groupId>
   <artifactId>junit-platform-runner</artifactId>
   <version>${junit.platform.version}</version>
   <scope>test</scope>
  </dependency>

 </dependencies>

Check for FIXME: entries to find the spots that need updating. Maven has a task to check from time to time which of the depdendencies have newer version. You can run mvn versions:display-dependency-updates to find out what can be updated
As usual YMMV!