This is a very simple POM but still displays the key elements every POM contains, so let’s walk through each of them to familiarize you with the POM essentials:
Project
This is the top-level element in all Maven pom.xml files.
ModelVersion
This element indicates what version of the object model this POM is using. The version of the model itself changes very infrequently but it is mandatory in order to ensure stability of use if and when the Maven developers deem it necessary to change the model.
GroupId
This element indicates the unique identifier of the organization or group that created the project. The groupId is one of the key identifiers of a project and is typically based on the fully qualified domain name of your organization. For example org.apache.maven.plugins is the designated groupId for all Maven plug-ins.
ArtifactId
This element indicates the unique base name of the primary artifact being generated by this project. The primary artifact for a project is typically a JAR file. Secondary artifacts like source bundles also use the artifactId as part of their final name. A typical artifact produced by Maven would have the form <artifactId>-<version>.<extension> (for example, myapp-1.0.jar).
For a complete reference of what elements are available for use in the POM please refer to our POM Reference. Now let’s get back to the project at hand.