How to include external JAR files in Maven?

To include external JAR files in a Maven project, you need to utilize Maven’s dependency management feature.

Firstly, you need to add a element in the pom.xml file of your Maven project to manage the project’s dependencies.

Next, you can add a element within the element to specify the relevant information of the external JAR package you want to add, including GroupId, ArtifactId, and version number.

Here is an example demonstrating how to import external JAR files.

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.example</groupId>
        <artifactId>external-library</artifactId>
        <version>1.0.0</version>
        <scope>system</scope>
        <systemPath>${project.basedir}/libs/external-library.jar</systemPath>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

In the example above, the groupId refers to the GroupId of the external JAR package, artifactId refers to the ArtifactId of the external JAR package, and version indicates the version of the external JAR package. Setting the scope to system indicates that this dependency is at the system level. systemPath specifies the path of the external JAR package.

Please note that introducing external JAR files in this way does not align with best practices in Maven. It is recommended to install external JAR files into the Maven repository and then import them using Maven dependency management. This will allow for better utilization of Maven’s dependency resolution and version control capabilities.