What information does the pom.xml file in Maven contain and how is it used during project build?

The pom.xml file in Maven is the main configuration file of a project, containing information about the project and build settings.

Main contents and their usage:

• Project metadata: group (groupId), artifact (artifactId), version (version), description.
• Dependencies: list of external libraries needed for building and running the project.
• Plugins and their configuration: tools for compilation, testing, packaging, and other stages.
• Repositories: addresses from which Maven will download dependencies.
• Profiles: sets of configurations for different environments (e.g., dev, prod).

When building, Maven reads pom.xml to understand what actions to perform, which dependencies to download, and how to assemble the final artifact.

Example fragment of pom.xml:

<project>
  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
  <artifactId>my-app</artifactId>
  <version>1.0.0</version>

  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
      <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
      <version>5.3.10</version>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
</project>

Thus, pom.xml manages the entire lifecycle of a project in Maven.