Maven Scope Explained

The `scope` element in Maven is used to define the visibility and usage scope of dependencies in different build phases. It can be set on elements in the pom.xml file and has several optional values.

1. compile (default): Dependencies are visible in all compile, test, and run phases. They will be included in the output JAR file and can be used by dependencies of other projects.
2. Dependencies are visible during compilation and testing phases, but are provided by the application container or Java runtime during runtime. This means that when deploying the application, the dependency will not be included in the generated JAR file.
3. Dependencies are visible during runtime and testing phases, but they are not compiled. These dependencies are required during runtime but not during compilation, so they will not be included in the output JAR file.
4. Dependents are only visible during the testing phase, they are not compiled or run. They are mainly used for writing unit tests.
5. This scope, similar to provided, requires you to explicitly specify the path to the jar file. It is useful for local dependencies that cannot be obtained from the Maven repository.
6. Import: This scope is only applicable to elements within the dependencies section. It allows you to import the dependency management section from other pom.xml files to reuse and centrally manage version numbers of dependencies.

By setting different scope values on the elements, visibility and usage of dependencies can be controlled in different stages of the build to meet project requirements.