Effective POM is not equal to super POM + project POM? - maven

Question

This question asks what makes up the effective POM. The answer states that effective POM consists of:
Application POM.
Super POM.
settings.xml
Plugins bound to the lifecycle by default based on the packaging type chosen.
I created a minimal POM to observe the effective POM of this minimal POM. The files are as below:
Minimal POM:
<project>
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>com.mycompany.app</groupId>
<artifactId>my-app</artifactId>
<version>1</version>
</project>
Super POM:
<project>
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<repositories>
<repository>
<id>central</id>
<name>Central Repository</name>
<url>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
<layout>default</layout>
<snapshots>
<enabled>false</enabled>
</snapshots>
</repository>
</repositories>
<pluginRepositories>
<pluginRepository>
<id>central</id>
<name>Central Repository</name>
<url>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
<layout>default</layout>
<snapshots>
<enabled>false</enabled>
</snapshots>
<releases>
<updatePolicy>never</updatePolicy>
</releases>
</pluginRepository>
</pluginRepositories>
<build>
<directory>${project.basedir}/target</directory>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/classes</outputDirectory>
<finalName>${project.artifactId}-${project.version}</finalName>
<testOutputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/test-classes</testOutputDirectory>
<sourceDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/main/java</sourceDirectory>
<scriptSourceDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/main/scripts</scriptSourceDirectory>
<testSourceDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/test/java</testSourceDirectory>
<resources>
<resource>
<directory>${project.basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
</resource>
</resources>
<testResources>
<testResource>
<directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>
</testResource>
</testResources>
<pluginManagement>
<!-- NOTE: These plugins will be removed from future versions of the super POM -->
<!-- They are kept for the moment as they are very unlikely to conflict with lifecycle mappings (MNG-4453) -->
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.3</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.8</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.3.2</version>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</pluginManagement>
</build>
<reporting>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/site</outputDirectory>
</reporting>
<profiles>
<!-- NOTE: The release profile will be removed from future versions of the super POM -->
<profile>
<id>release-profile</id>
<activation>
<property>
<name>performRelease</name>
<value>true</value>
</property>
</activation>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<inherited>true</inherited>
<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>attach-sources</id>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<inherited>true</inherited>
<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>attach-javadocs</id>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<inherited>true</inherited>
<artifactId>maven-deploy-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<updateReleaseInfo>true</updateReleaseInfo>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</profile>
</profiles>
</project>
Effective POM:
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>com.mycompany.app</groupId>
<artifactId>my-app</artifactId>
<version>1</version>
<repositories>
<repository>
<snapshots>
<enabled>false</enabled>
</snapshots>
<id>central</id>
<name>Central Repository</name>
<url>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
</repository>
</repositories>
<pluginRepositories>
<pluginRepository>
<releases>
<updatePolicy>never</updatePolicy>
</releases>
<snapshots>
<enabled>false</enabled>
</snapshots>
<id>central</id>
<name>Central Repository</name>
<url>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
</pluginRepository>
</pluginRepositories>
<build>
<sourceDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/src/main/java</sourceDirectory>
<scriptSourceDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/src/main/scripts</scriptSourceDirectory>
<testSourceDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/src/test/java</testSourceDirectory>
<outputDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target/classes</outputDirectory>
<testOutputDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target/test-classes</testOutputDirectory>
<resources>
<resource>
<directory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/src/main/resources</directory>
</resource>
</resources>
<testResources>
<testResource>
<directory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/src/test/resources</directory>
</testResource>
</testResources>
<directory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target</directory>
<finalName>my-app-1</finalName>
<pluginManagement>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.3</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.8</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.3.2</version>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</pluginManagement>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-clean-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.5</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-clean</id>
<phase>clean</phase>
<goals>
<goal>clean</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.6</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-testResources</id>
<phase>process-test-resources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>testResources</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
<execution>
<id>default-resources</id>
<phase>process-resources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>resources</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.4</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-jar</id>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.1</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-compile</id>
<phase>compile</phase>
<goals>
<goal>compile</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
<execution>
<id>default-testCompile</id>
<phase>test-compile</phase>
<goals>
<goal>testCompile</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.12.4</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-test</id>
<phase>test</phase>
<goals>
<goal>test</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-install-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.4</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-install</id>
<phase>install</phase>
<goals>
<goal>install</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-deploy-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.7</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-deploy</id>
<phase>deploy</phase>
<goals>
<goal>deploy</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-site-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.3</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-site</id>
<phase>site</phase>
<goals>
<goal>site</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target/site</outputDirectory>
<reportPlugins>
<reportPlugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-project-info-reports-plugin</artifactId>
</reportPlugin>
</reportPlugins>
</configuration>
</execution>
<execution>
<id>default-deploy</id>
<phase>site-deploy</phase>
<goals>
<goal>deploy</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target/site</outputDirectory>
<reportPlugins>
<reportPlugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-project-info-reports-plugin</artifactId>
</reportPlugin>
</reportPlugins>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target/site</outputDirectory>
<reportPlugins>
<reportPlugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-project-info-reports-plugin</artifactId>
</reportPlugin>
</reportPlugins>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
<reporting>
<outputDirectory>/Users/utku/Minimal_POM_Test/target/site</outputDirectory>
</reporting>
</project>
However, observe the following:
<repositories> tag of the effective POM and the Super POM are not the same:
The order which elements of the <repositories> tag appear are different.
Effective POM is missing the <layout>default</layout> part.
Similar differences exist for other tags as well.
What is the reason for this? Two questions regarding this topic are:
From the linked question, I thought that effective POM is just a summation of the project POM and the Super POM. However the results show that it is not as simple as this. Does further processing goes into the effective POM?
If yes, which Maven plugins (or other tools) are used to create the effective POM?

Answer 1

The <repositories> tags of the effective POM and the Super POM are the same regarding their effective content. <layout>default is, no wonder, the default. The order of declarations usually is not relevant due to the declarative nature of a POM. (If it is it's mentioned in the documentation.)
See Maven: The Complete Reference, 3.2.1. The Super POM for further information.
See also the Maven Model Builder:
The effective model builder, with profile activation, inheritance, interpolation, ...
...
phase 1
...
parent resolution until super-pom
...