title: Maven: Lifecycle vs. Phase vs. Plugin vs. Goal
body: <p>Relatively new developer here, even though I've been using it for a little while, I'm hoping to solidify my Maven fundamentals. Part of my problem is that I have <strong>no</strong> experience with Ant, which seems to be from where many explanations stem. I've been reading and watching tutorials, and I keep hearing the same terms:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Lifecycle</li>
  <li>Phase</li>
  <li>Plugin</li>
  <li>Goal</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>From what I've learned, it seems that lifecycle is the broadest of the bunch, and is composed of (or completed by) phases, plugins, and/or goals.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Question</strong>: Could you provide any info on how these terms are related and the most common examples?</p>
  
  <p>The more explicit and basic, the better!</p>