The jar file is executable and provides a little tool to display how Maven parses and compares versions:

+----+
$ java -jar maven-artifact-*.jar 3.2.4-alpha-1 3.2.4-SNAPSHOT 3.2.4.0
Display parameters as parsed by Maven (in canonical form) and comparison result:
1. 3.2.4-alpha-1 == 3.2.4.alpha.1
   3.2.4-alpha-1 < 3.2.4-SNAPSHOT

 Plugins should avoid these classes and be updated to use only Maven3 dependencies (and require Maven3): see
 {{{https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MAVEN/Plugin+migration+to+Maven3+dependencies} Plugin migration to Maven3 dependencies}}

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