Some features described here are available in Ultimate edition only.
An artifact is a draft that defines the layout of the project output.
An artifact can be an archive (jar,war,
ear) or a directory.
Artifact layouts are constituted from elements of various types such as libraries, facet resources, and other artifacts.
These elements are grouped into archives and folders.
Once you have configured the artifact layout, you no longer need to get into these details every time you build your application.
Note
Note the difference between artifacts and facets.
- An artifact is a wider notion and can contain facet resources as well.
- An artifact defines the layout of the entire project output, while each facet is attached to a specific module.
- Facets and artifacts are employed at different stages of the project life cycle:
-
Facets are first applied before the application development starts.
According to the facet settings,
IntelliJ IDEA downloads and configures the necessary resources (libraries, framework components, etc.),
generates the required descriptors, and stores them in the proper locations.
Facets enable you to use various technologies and frameworks, to have your module configured correctly,
and to get various technology-specific coding assistance at disposal.
-
Artifacts are applied after the development stage
and represent its output.
