IntelliJ: Build > Rebuild Project menu item versus Maven clean install

Question

For a Maven-driven project in IntelliJ 2018, when should I choose to use…

• The IntelliJ 2018.1 menu item Build > Rebuild Project
• The Maven panel’s clean and install Lifecycle items

Under what circumstances is either appropriate?

My situation is a Vaadin 8 application using the vaadin-archetype-application-multimodule Vaadin archetype.

The Question, Does IntelliJ Build > Rebuild Project invoke maven? has a single Answer that says the Rebuild Project does not invoke Maven at all. But no guidance is given on when to use route versus the other.

Answer 1

Well, if you make substancial changes within a pom.xml file (new plugins, new modules within a multi-module project), you'd better run "mvn clean install". I personally never use the "Rebuild Project" within a Maven project. usually I just "make" the project so the class files are updated, or I start a real Maven build to get new / updated dependencies.

The third important option (for me) is the "Reimport all Maven projects" option, which is quite useful if a pure Maven build runs fine, but IntelliJ still thinks that there is something wrong within your project.