Effects of Artifact Age on Maven Dependency Resolution

Abstract

This study conducts an investigation of the challenges faced by aging projects in Maven Central, focusing on the issue of missing dependencies. Using the Maven Explorer indexer, we systematically examine the correlation between the age of a project and the frequency of dependency resolution failures. Our analysis reveals a notable trend: older packages in Maven Central are more likely to encounter dependency resolution issues compared to newer ones. A widespread cause that was identified is the reliance on repositories without Transport Layer Security (TLS). Through this research, we highlight the prevalent issues within the Maven Central ecosystem and also offer insights into common causes of dependency resolution failures. We advocate for uploading new versions of libraries to multiple repositories to mitigate these issues. This study reviews the current state of Maven Central and extends some of the findings to other package management systems, contributing to a broader discourse on software longevity and dependency management.