How to distinguish that with option B pom is for maven 3 or Maven 4 build
pom for XML based tools?
Do we have easy way to extend existing namespace?

Sylwester

czw., 12 mar 2026, 16:15 użytkownik Elliotte Rusty Harold <
[email protected]> napisał:

> On Sat, Mar 7, 2026 at 5:13 PM Hervé Boutemy <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > I'm late to the discussion, but we need to close it
> >
> > I'll need clarity on this namespace topic, it's too vague to my old XML
> related knowledge,
> > and define what concrete
>
> This is essentially correct. I strongly recommend option B, keep
> http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 from Maven 3 for Maven 4.x, 5 etc...
>
>
> > 1. the situation:
> > Maven 3 POM xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0";
> > https://maven.apache.org/ref/3.9.13/maven-model/maven.html
> >
> > Maven 4 POM build xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.1.0";
> > https://maven.apache.org/ref/4.0.0-rc-5/api/maven-api-model/maven.html
> >
> >
> > 2. analysis:
> > IIUC, changing the value from Maven 3 to 4 is a problem for XML-level
> tools, that recognize the value to adapt.
> > And also changing in the future for every Maven 4.x version, as we
> currently implicitely will change again the namespace with a version number
> in the future
> >
> > is this analysis correct?
> > (I'm interested into pointers to concrete problems for XML-level tools,
> as it remains vague to me)
> >
> >
> > 3. options:
> > A. continue as implemented
> > B. keep http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 from Maven 3 for Maven 4.x, 5
> etc...
> > C. change Maven 4.0 to http://maven.apache.org/POM and stay with this
> value in the future
> > any other option?
> >
> >
> > 4. complexity of implementing options (from a Maven core perspective):
> > are every option as easy to implement, or is any option complex to do?
> >
> >
> > Doing a choice for this topic should not be that hard, with a few
> efforts from everybody
> >
> > or "just for fun", perhaps the only option is to drop XML to close this
> XML-specific complexity...
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Hervé
> >
> > On 2026/02/22 11:46:58 Maarten Mulders wrote:
> > > Hi Elliotte,
> > >
> > > Thank you for your elaboration! It didn't click together for me earlier
> > > but I think I now better understand your concern; this sentence
> > > summarises it for me: "A group element is still a group element."
> > >
> > > As far as I know, being able to change namespaces was never the goal of
> > > separating build and consumer POM. The goal was to be able to evolve
> the
> > > schema of the POM that a developer uses to build the project, without
> > > affecting those that consume the project. I think we could have done
> > > that without changing XML namespaces. And I fully agree with Elliotte:
> > > if we revert that change before Maven 4.0.0, it will be a lot easier
> > > than trying to repair this after releasing 4.0.0.
> > >
> > > I know we aren't voting on this (yet). Nevertheless, I would say it's
> > > better to ship Maven 4.0.0 a bit later but in a good shape, than
> > > shipping it early with a known large defect.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > >
> > > Maarten
> > >
> > > On 14/02/2026 23:46, Elliotte Rusty Harold wrote:
> > > > On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 8:25 PM Romain Manni-Bucau
> > > > <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> Hi
> > > >>
> > > >> My 2cts would be
> > > >>
> > > >> 1. this is the whole goal of the consumer pom work did in maven 3
> so the
> > > >> correct phrasing is "we must come with a new namespace", what is
> also true
> > > >> is "we must support maven 4.0.0 model version and older namespace"
> => we
> > > >> are good
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > No, that is the concern and that is not a resolution. The goal is to
> > > > be able to use XML tools like XPath and XSLT to process pom files,
> > > > both inside and outside Maven itself. By changing the namespace this
> > > > becomes immensely more difficult because instead of adding a few new
> > > > elements it's like we threw away all the existing elements and
> > > > replaced every one with a new element.
> > > >
> > > > But this is not what we have done, or at least not what we should do.
> > > > A group element is still a group element. A dependency element is
> > > > still a dependency element. And so forth. These elements haven't
> > > > changed so their names shouldn't have changed, and that includes the
> > > > namespace.
> > > >
> > > > Many developers still confuse namespaces with schema versions, but
> > > > that is not how namespaces were designed to work. In general the
> > > > namespace should not change simply because a new version of a
> > > > vocabulary has been released. In Maven's case that's what
> modelVersion
> > > > is for. Releasing a new version of a vocabulary does not justify
> > > > changing the namespace, and there is a large cost associated with
> > > > doing so.
> > > >
> > >
> > >
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> > >
> > >
> >
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>
>
> --
> Elliotte Rusty Harold
> [email protected]
>
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