Generating an executable JAR

The JAR artifact generated by Maven works well when used as a dependency in another project. However, it cannot be run as an executable without manually specifying the main class and explicitly specifying the dependencies that the project uses in the classpath.

What if we want to create an executable JAR for the project? This may be useful when the JAR needs to be tested or the project is a simple tool that should be invoked without additional effort.

How to do it...

1. Open a simple Maven project (project-with-executable-jar):

2. Add the following section in the pom file:

   <build>
       <plugins>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
           <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
           <version>2.6</version>
           <configuration>
             <archive>
               <manifest>
                 <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                 <mainClass>com...