How to make Maven use JDK1.8 instead of JDK1.6

Question

I am new to maven, and I find that though I change the facet of the jdk of the project to 1.8, every time I "update maven",it will get back to jdk 1.6.

Why is that?

I installed jdk 1.8 in my windows, and I am using eclipse.

I read Specify JDK for Maven to use and add the following but it does not work.

   <plugin>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <id>enforce-versions</id>
      <goals>
        <goal>enforce</goal>
      </goals>
      <configuration>
        <rules>
          <requireJavaVersion>
            <version>1.8</version>
          </requireJavaVersion>
        </rules>
      </configuration>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

Answer 1

The version of the JDK that maven will use is set in the maven-compiler-plugin like so:

  <plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.1</version>
    <configuration>
      <source>1.8</source>   <!-- use java 8 -->
      <target>1.8</target>
    </configuration>
  </plugin>

See Setting the -source and -target of the Java Compiler for more information.