I've noticed that some plugins feature expressions that, when present as properties, will override configuration values.
So, taking the maven-compiler-plugin as an arbitrary example, I can configure its "source" property like this: <configuration> <source>1.6</source> </configuration> ...or I could simply set a property in my pom.xml file (i.e. instead of the configuration above): <maven.compiler.source>1.6</maven.compiler.source> <!-- the expression is defined according to the docs as maven.compiler.source --> ...or I could eliminate that and make sure that I always specified the following on the command line (an admittedly contrived solution): -Dmaven.compiler.source=1.6 So far this all makes sense to me. Now let's introduce inheritance. Suppose I have a pom.xml that extends another one. Suppose the parent opts for solution #2 above. That is, inside its <properties> section it does this: <maven.compiler.source>*1.6*</maven.compiler.source> ...and furthermore does not specify an explicit configuration for the maven-compiler-plugin. Now suppose the child introduces this: <configuration> <source>*1.5*</source> </configuration> Will the maven-compiler-plugin executed in the child be configured with (at build time) a source value of 1.6 or 1.5? Thanks, Laird -- http://about.me/lairdnelson
