Using Non-Javac Compilers

Contrary to this plugin's name, the Compiler Plugin does not compile the sources of your project by itself. To compile, the Compiler Plugin uses another class to compile them. The parameter compilerId determines which class will be used. Currently, the Compiler Plugin is bundled with the javac compiler artifact with artifactId plexus-compiler-javac, which can be seen as one of the dependencies declared inside the Compiler Plugin's POM.

Plexus Compiler component has some other compiler Ids available under the groupId org.codehaus.plexus:

  • aspectj with artifactId plexus-compiler-aspectj.
  • csharp with artifactId plexus-compiler-csharp.
  • eclipse with artifactId plexus-compiler-eclipse.
  • jikes with artifactId plexus-compiler-jikes.

Using The Other Plexus Compilers

To use any of the non-javac compilers, you need to make the artifact available in the classpath when the Compiler Plugin runs. This is possible by adding the dependency when declaring the plugin in your project's pom.xml. The example below shows how to use the csharp compiler:

<project>
  [...]
  <build>
    [...]
    <plugins>
      [...]
      <plugin>
        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>3.7.0</version>
        <configuration>
          <compilerId>csharp</compilerId>
        </configuration>
        <dependencies>
          <dependency>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
            <artifactId>plexus-compiler-csharp</artifactId>
            <version>1.6</version>
          </dependency>
        </dependencies>
      </plugin>
  [...]
</project>