Understanding SNAPSHOT dependencies

In Maven, a SNAPSHOT version is a version of the project/dependency that has not been released. This is indicated by suffixing SNAPSHOT to the version number. Here's an example:

<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

You will notice that the project we created using the Maven archetype quickstart had a SNAPSHOT version.

The version number specified before -SNAPSHOT is the version that the released project/dependency is expected to have. So, 1.0-SNAPSHOT indicates 1.0 is not released yet.

As the SNAPSHOT version indicates software under development, Maven deals with these dependencies differently.

How to do it...

One would rarely use the SNAPSHOT version of an external dependency. If you are developing a multi-module project in your organization, chances are you will use SNAPSHOT versions of other modules required in your project.

Let us try the following contrived example:

1. Open one of the projects that we have created.

2. Add the following dependency:

   <dependency...