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Install Maven

Maven needs a JDK first (it runs on Java). Then install Maven itself, or — better — use the wrapper that most projects ship with.

Install & verify

bash

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install maven
# then check:
mvn -version

mvn -version prints the Maven version *and* the Java version it's using — confirm both are what you expect.

JAVA_HOME

Maven uses JAVA_HOME to find the JDK. If mvn -version shows the wrong Java, set it.

bash

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/jdk-21

The Maven Wrapper (preferred)

Most projects include mvnw/mvnw.cmd — the Maven Wrapper. It downloads and runs the exact Maven version the project needs, so everyone (and CI) builds identically, with no global install.

bash

./mvnw -version      # macOS/Linux
mvnw.cmd -version    # Windows

The .m2 folder

Maven stores its local cache and optional settings in a .m2 folder in your home directory: ~/.m2/repository (downloaded libraries) and ~/.m2/settings.xml (optional config, covered later).

Tip: Prefer ./mvnw over a globally installed mvn in real projects — it guarantees the whole team uses the same Maven version.

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