先来看一下这个超级pom.xml的定义：
<project>
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<name>Maven Default Project</name>
<repositories>
<repository>
<id>central</id>
<name>Maven Repository Switchboard</name>
<layout>default</layout>
<url>http://repo1.maven.org/maven2</url>
<snapshots>
<enabled>false</enabled>
</snapshots>
</repository>
</repositories>
<pluginRepositories>
<pluginRepository>
<id>central</id>
<name>Maven Plugin Repository</name>
<url>http://repo1.maven.org/maven2</url>
<layout>default</layout>
<snapshots>
<enabled>false</enabled>
</snapshots>
<releases>
<updatePolicy>never</updatePolicy>
</releases>
</pluginRepository>
</pluginRepositories>
<build>
<directory>${project.basedir}/target</directory>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/classes</outputDirectory>
<finalName>${project.artifactId}-${project.version}</finalName>
<testOutputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/test-classes</testOutputDirectory>
<sourceDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/main/java</sourceDirectory>
<!-- TODO: MNG-3731 maven-plugin-tools-api < 2.4.4 expect this to be relative... -->
<scriptSourceDirectory>src/main/scripts</scriptSourceDirectory>
<testSourceDirectory>${project.basedir}/src/test/java</testSourceDirectory>
<resources>
<resource>
<directory>${project.basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
</resource>
</resources>
<testResources>
<testResource>
<directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>
</testResource>
</testResources>
<pluginManagement>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.3</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2-beta-2</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-clean-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.0.2</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.0</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-deploy-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.4</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-ear-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.3.1</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-ejb-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.1</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-install-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.5</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-plugin-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.4.3</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-rar-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.0-beta-8</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.3</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-site-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.0-beta-7</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.0.4</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.4.3</version>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.1-alpha-2</version>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</pluginManagement>
</build>
<reporting>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/site</outputDirectory>
</reporting>
<profiles>
<profile>
<id>release-profile</id>
<activation>
<property>
<name>performRelease</name>
<value>true</value>
</property>
</activation>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<inherited>true</inherited>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>attach-sources</id>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<inherited>true</inherited>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>attach-javadocs</id>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<inherited>true</inherited>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-deploy-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<updateReleaseInfo>true</updateReleaseInfo>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</profile>
</profiles>
</project>
子pom.xml会完全继承父pom.xml中所有的元素，而且对于相同的元素，一般子pom.xml中的会覆盖父pom.xml中的元素，但是有几个特殊的元素它们会进行合并而不是覆盖。这些特殊的元素是：
Ø dependencies
Ø developers
Ø contributors
Ø plugin列表，包括plugin下面的reports
Ø resources