In this article, we will show you how to create a simple maven project in Eclipse IDE.
We can also create a simple maven project using the command line, check out the same at Create a Simple Maven Project using Command-Line.

Video

This tutorial is explained in the below Youtube Video. Subscribe to my youtube channel to learn more about Spring boot at Java Guides - YouTube Channel.

Tools and technologies used

Eclipse Neon
Maven - 3.5.3
JDK - 1.8

Let's create step by step a simple maven project in Eclipse IDE.

Step-1

Open Eclipse
Click on File -> New -> Maven Project

Step-2

Click on Checkbox for both

Create a simple project
Use default Workspace location
Click on next button

Step-3

Provide GroupId and ArtifactId in next screen.

GroupId: net.javaguides.maven-demo
Artifact Id: maven-demo-project
Name: maven-demo-project
Description: Simple Maven Demo Project

Step-4

And you are all set. You should see a new Project in Eclipse with below structure.

Step-5

As you can see in the maven project structure, the default java compiler version ( i.e. source and target setting ) is 1.5. To change the default settings, add the following snippet to pom.xml.

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.6.0</version>
            <configuration>
                <source>1.8</source>
                <target>1.8</target>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

After changes in pom.xml file, update the maven project. To update maven project right click on maven-project → Maven → Update Project.

Step-6

Add some dependencies to pom.xml file. Here we are adding junit dependency to pom.xml.

<project
    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>net.javaguides.maven-demo</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-demo-project</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <description>Simple Maven Demo Project</description>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>4.12</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.6.0</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.8</source>
                    <target>1.8</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Let's test our created project by creating a simple JUnit test.

Step-7

Create a package, named as net.javaguides.simpleproject, under src/test/java folder. Now create a class AppTest.java under src/test/java package and write the following code in it.

package net.javaguides.simpleproject;

import org.junit.Assert;
import org.junit.Test;

public class AppTest {
    @Test
    public void test() {
        Assert.assertEquals("Hello Maven", new String("Hello Maven"));
    }
}