Project Object Model

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The Project Object Model (POM) is the central construct of the Apache Maven build management system. In Maven, it is represented by an XML file which contains general information about the project and configuration details, which are used by Maven to build the project. Some of the configuration that can be specified in the POM-file are project dependencies, plugins or goals that can be executed, the build profiles, and so on.

[edit] Versions

The POM comes in two flavors: version 3.0 and version 4.0, corresponding respectively to Maven 1.x and Maven 2.x. The default filename for the POM was renamed from project.xml in Maven 1 to pom.xml in Maven 2. Another change between POM versions 3.0 and 4.0 is that of more configuration when it comes to goals that can be executed. Previously, those were defined in a maven.xml file. With Maven 2.x however, this responsibility was transferred to the pom.xml file.