If you want to include a library dependency in “pom.xml” file, you have to add the Maven’s coordinate in “pom.xml” file as following :

        <!-- MySQL database driver -->
	<dependency>
		<groupId>mysql</groupId>
		<artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
		<version>5.1.9</version>
	</dependency>

However, one of the drawback of this is you do not know what’s the dependecy library’s group id, artifactId and etc. Many Java developers just browse the Maven central repository and search for it. If the dependency library is package in a deep folder structure, you may have problem in digging work.

Here’s a dirty trick to workaround it – Google site search Maven central repository. The Google search function is powerful enough to find the Maven’s coordinate for you .

Let say, you want to know the “logback” Maven’s coordinates , you can search it in Google

logback site:http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/

Google will return the result for you

http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/ch/qos/logback/

I really hope Maven can provide a search function in the Maven central repository in future.