Why Maven uses JDK 1.6 but my java -version is 1.7

I'm new to maven, and also to MacOS.

I have setup maven in my terminal, and when getting the version settings (using mvn -v) it seems it uses JDK 1.6, while I have JDK 1.7 installed. Is there anything wrong?

The commands I enter are these:

blues:helloworld Ninja$ java -version

java version "1.7.0_05"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_05-b06)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.1-b03, mixed mode)`

blues:helloworld Ninja$ mvn -v

Apache Maven 3.1.0 (893ca28a1da9d5f51ac03827af98bb730128f9f2; 2013-06-28 10:15:32+0800)
Maven home: /usr/local/Cellar/maven/3.1.0/libexec
Java version: 1.6.0_51, vendor: Apple Inc.
Java home: /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
Default locale: zh_CN, platform encoding: EUC_CN
OS name: "mac os x", version: "10.8.4", arch: "x86_64", family: "mac"

add the following to your ~/.mavenrc:

export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/{jdk-version}/Contents/Home

Second Solution:

echo export "JAVA_HOME=\$(/usr/libexec/java_home)" >> ~/.bash_profile

Get into

/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions

and update the CurrentJDK symbolic link to point to

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/YOUR_JDK_VERSION/Contents/

E.g.

cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions
sudo rm CurrentJDK
sudo ln -s /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0.jdk/Contents/ CurrentJDK

Now it shall work immediately.

You can also do,

<properties>
      ...  

      <!-- maven-compiler-plugin , aka JAVA Compiler 1.7 -->
      <maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
      <maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>

      ...  
</properties>

You can also explicitly tell maven which java version to compile for. You can try adding the maven-compiler-plugin to your pom.

<project>
  [...]
  <build>
    [...]
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>3.1</version>
        <configuration>
          <source>1.7</source>
          <target>1.7</target>
        </configuration>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
    [...]
  </build>
  [...]
</project>

If you imported a maven project into an IDE, then there is probably a maven setting in your IDE for default compiler that your maven runner is using.

It helped me. Just add it in your pom.xml.

By default maven compiler plugin uses Java 1.5 or 1.6, you have to redefine it in your pom.xml.

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <configuration>
                <source>1.8</source>
                <target>1.8</target>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>