How does maven compile only the modified java files?

Question

I was just curious to know this, when i give mvn install without doing \'clean\', maven compiles only the modified java files. How does maven identify a java file is modifie

Answer 1

Without knowing much about maven, I can tell you that generally speaking, "make"-like tools use the "last changed" timestamp, which would explain the issue you had with svn ( see Wikipedia on Subversion's weaknesses.