The https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/maven-plugin[Spring Boot Maven plugin] provides many convenient features:

- It collects all the jars on the classpath and builds a single, runnable "über-jar", which makes it more convenient to execute and transport your service.
- It searches for the `public static void main()` method to flag as a runnable class. 
- It provides a built-in dependency resolver that sets the version number to match https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/blob/main/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-dependencies/pom.xml[Spring Boot dependencies]. You can override any version you wish, but it will default to Boot's chosen set of versions.