Why does NetBeans always want to run a "priming build" on my Maven project?

Question

It asks me frequently to do a "priming build". At least every time it opens, for instance. This is in NetBeans 7.1; version 6 didn't do this.

I don't even understand what it does. Googling points to http://wiki.netbeans.org/NewAndNoteworthyNB71#Maven which says it's a replacement for "reloading online", which is also a mystery to me. But the brief paragraph mentions it is for sorting missing artefacts.

But does it have to run so often? This project has numerous modules; could there be a dependancy problem NetBeans keeps trying to sort out?

Answer 1

I think it's an opportunity for Netbeans to work out which dependencies it needs to compile your project (presumably so it can highlight errors on the editor/navigator).

As to why it now does it every time you open a project, I don't know. I suspect earlier versions did it automatically and the change is to accommodate users with huge projects who might not want to wait and instead let them select which modules they want to ruin the priming build on.

It'd be nice if there was an option turn it off though.