XML format
Maven POM
Maven's project model: coordinates, dependencies, plugins, repositories, and inherited build configuration under one namespaced <project> root.
pom.xml is both a dependency manifest and an inheritable build model. groupId, artifactId, and version form the project's coordinates, while parent and dependencyManagement can supply values not visible in the file itself.
The document declares the POM 4.0.0 namespace even though Maven's model version has remained 4.0.0 for years. Effective configuration is the result of inheritance, interpolation, profiles, and defaults, not a literal reading of one document.
- The root is <project> in the POM 4.0.0 namespace and modelVersion is 4.0.0.
- Element order follows the Maven model schema; arbitrary reordering can fail validation.
- A missing groupId or version may be inherited from parent, so absence alone is not an error.
- Property expressions such as ${project.version} are resolved while building the effective model.
- Root element
<project>- Media type
application/xml- Extensions
.xml- Namespaces
http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0
- XMLDir label
xml
Specification: Apache Maven POM reference
A minimal valid document
Every example on this site is checked against the same parser the workspace uses, so what you see below is known to be well-formed.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<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 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>com.example</groupId>
<artifactId>catalog</artifactId>
<version>1.0.0</version>
</project>Namespaces you will meet
Maven POM 4.0.0
http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0The default namespace on pom.xml, covering Maven project coordinates, dependencies, build plugins, profiles, and repositories.
XML Schema instance
http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instanceFour attributes an instance document uses to point at its schema or declare a nil value: xsi:schemaLocation, xsi:type and xsi:nil among them.
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