一、序言
我先看一下Apache官網的解釋：
Apache Maven is a software project management and comprehension tool. Based on the concept of a project object model (POM), Maven can manage a project's build, reporting and documentation from a central piece of information.
翻譯：Maven是基於項目對象模型(POM即Project Object Model)，可以通過一小段描述信息來管理項目的構建，報告和文檔的軟件項目管理工具。
通過上面這句話，我們可以瞭解到Maven不僅僅可以管理項目的構建，而且可以根據項目源碼自動生成文檔，以及報告。
二、正文
1、下載
下載地址：http://maven.apache.org/release-notes-all.html，現在Maven的最新版本是Release notes for Maven 3.6.0，大家可以根據自己的需要自行下載。
2、什麼是Maven
Maven, a Yiddish word meaning accumulator of knowledge, was originally started as an attempt to simplify the build processes in the Jakarta Turbine project. There were several projects each with their own Ant build files that were all slightly different and JARs were checked into CVS. We wanted a standard way to build the projects, a clear definition of what the project consisted of, an easy way to publish project information and a way to share JARs across several projects.
The result is a tool that can now be used for building and managing any Java-based project. We hope that we have created something that will make the day-to-day work of Java developers easier and generally help with the comprehension of any Java-based project.
翻譯：
Maven這個單詞來自於意第緒語，意爲知識的積累，最早在Jakata Turbine項目中它開始被用來試圖簡化構建過程。當時有很多項目，它們的Ant build文件僅有細微的差別，而JAR文件都由CVS來維護。於是Maven創始者想要更加標準的方式構建項目，該項目的清晰定義包括：一種很方便的方式來發布項目信息，以及一種在多個項目中共享JAR的方式。
現在，Maven，成爲了一種被用於構建和管理任何基於Java項目的工具。Maven創始者希望能夠更多的讓Java開發人員的日常工作更加容易，幫助理解任何基於Java項目。
maven的目標
Maven’s primary goal is to allow a developer to comprehend the complete state of a development effort in the shortest period of time. In order to attain this goal there are several areas of concern that Maven attempts to deal with:
1、Making the build process easy
2、Providing a uniform build system
3、Providing quality project information
4、Providing guidelines for best practices development
5、Allowing transparent migration to new features
翻譯：
Maven的主要目標是爲了使開發人員在最短的時間內領會項目的所有狀態。爲了達到這一目標，Maven考慮一下五個方面的內容：
1、使得構建過程更加容易，方便編譯，打包，發佈
2、爲每個項目提供統一的配置
3、提供優質項目信息
4、最佳開發實踐
5、安裝和更新第三插件透明化
引言：下篇博文，我們開始介紹如何安裝Maven。