Maven从另一个Maven项目生成源

Question

In my project I have a source code generator that relies on a lot of java code to build a java source that is then stored as a string. Normally I would write the string to a .java file, but I've recently begun switching my project to Maven, and I am looking for a way to have the src file be part of the target folder so it can be used as a dependency for another maven project.

Answer 1

Maven as build tool has conventions for directory layouts in the module (like src/main/java , src/main/resources , you've probably seen this stuff already). All the compiled classes are put into a folder called target during the compile phase. Later on, during the package phase the jar is created inside this target folder.

Now, for generated sources, there is also a kind of convention, although probably less known:

If you generate sources you should place them into:

target/generated-sources

When you do this, your IDEs (IntelliJ at least) will use them as a source files.

A process of source generation in maven is usually triggered from maven plugins attached to one of the early phases. Then, when it comes to the package phase these sources will be added into the jar, just like any other .class file compiled as a binary source.