A bloody simple Java 8 archetype. Has the following features:

• minimizes the amount of "example" files that you would have to delete anyway (cf.maven-quickstart-archetype).

• automatically createsempty package directories formain andtest.

• lets you setup many Java 8 configuration variants for all your legacy needs (seeOptions for more info).

• optionally includes JUnit or TestNG dependencies (JUnit by default).

In general, this archetype is primarily useful for quickly creating cruft-free projects for Java 8 development.

• compilerMode: [simple,test-only,retrolambda-main,retrolambda-all]. DEFAULT:simple.

  • simple: everything is compiled as Java 8.

  • test-only: set up test for Java 8, and main for Java 7.

  • retrolambda-main: main code is compiled as Java 8, and then converted to Java 7 viaretrolambda.

  • retrolambda-all: all code is compiled as Java 8, and then converted to Java 7 viaretrolambda.

• testLibrary: [junit,testng,none]. DEFAULT:junit. Adds the requested test library to the POM deps.

Analogous tomaven-quickstart-archetype. Since the archetype is now on Maven Central, you don’t need to download anything.

An excellent question! First of all, archetypes are sometimes quite underrated as a concept -they provide a gateway to various technologies and frameworks to coders who are not Maven, er,mavens.

Given that, let’s take a look at some "generic" archetypes such asnet.alchim31.maven:scala-archetype-simpleororg.apache.maven.archetypes:maven-archetype-quickstart. After project creation,it becomes apparent that they serve mainly the following purposes:

• creating the POM boilerplate for the specific project type,

• introducing the POM creator to some associated frameworks, technologies and/or patterns (e.g. the Scala archetype includes no less thanthree different test libraries at the same time).

At this point, coupled with the premise that POMs are essentially executable (declarative) build configuration code,it can be argued that the aforementioned archetypes fail theSRP.

The archetype you’re now viewing, and its sister project, attempt to alleviate this problem.

Namely, they have a single goal in mind: enable a user to create multiple projects,with the most popularexclusive configurationvariants, and with theleast "educto-boilerplate" to clean up.

The last subpoint emphasizes why this goal was chosen as a primary one, over educating newcomers.

Nowadays, various 3rd party ecosystem libs (such as the aforementionedthreetestinglibraries )tend to do a decent job at introducing new developers. Therefore, it is posited that it’s more efficient foran archetype to just focus on providing atabula rasa.