Executing Java programs using the Exec Maven Plugin

2 years ago

Isabella Edwards

3 minutes

The maven exec plugin permits the execution of system and Java programs directly from the maven command.

The maven exec plugin has two objectives.

exec:java – can be employed to execute a Java program within the same virtual machine.

In this guide, we will discover the process of executing a Java program from our Maven project using exec:java.

First, include the necessary configurations for the exec-maven-plugin in the pom.xml file.

To utilize a maven plugin, it is necessary to set it up in the build section of the pom.xml. Simply incorporate the plugin configuration provided below into your project’s pom.xml file.

<plugin>
		<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
		<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
		<version>1.6.0</version>
		<configuration>
			<mainClass>com.scdev.maven.utils.BuildInfo</mainClass>
		</configuration>
</plugin>

The main focus should be on the “mainClass” element within the “configuration”. This is where we indicate the Java class that will be executed through the exec:java goal.

This is the Java class content. It is a basic class that displays the Java version details and the current time.

package com.scdev.maven.utils;

import java.time.LocalDateTime;

public class BuildInfo {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		String javaVersion = Runtime.version().toString();
		String time = LocalDateTime.now().toString();
		System.out.println("********\nBuild Time: " + time 
				+ "\nJava Version: " + javaVersion + "\n********");
	}

}

Step 2: Execute the Maven build by using the goal exec:java.

This is the result obtained when the Maven build is executed with the exec:java objective.

$ mvn exec:java
[INFO] Scanning for projects...
[INFO] 
[INFO] ---------------< com.scdev.maven:maven-example-jar >---------------
[INFO] Building maven-example-jar 0.0.1-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] --------------------------------[ jar ]---------------------------------
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- exec-maven-plugin:1.6.0:java (default-cli) @ maven-example-jar ---
********
Build Time: 2020-01-10T12:44:17.718061
Java Version: 13.0.1+9
********
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time:  0.591 s
[INFO] Finished at: 2020-01-10T12:44:17+05:30
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
$

Citations:
– Sources:
– Bibliography:

Exec Maven Plugin Home Page

First, include the necessary configurations for the exec-maven-plugin in the pom.xml file.

Step 2: Execute the Maven build by using the goal exec:java.

Citations: – Sources: – Bibliography:

Citations:
– Sources:
– Bibliography: