Definitions

Project

From the perspective of the build system, a project is a directory containing source code which produces one or more artifacts.  A project may have dependencies on the artifacts of other projects or third-party libraries.

Component

A project which exists only as a part of another project.  For example, JTA is a component of the application server.

Dependency

A requirement that a library or artifact must be available during compilation of a given project.  This term can also refer to the artifact or library itself.

Artifact

The compiled product of a project.  Generally, artifacts are JAR files.  The Application Server project will have a dependency on artifacts produced by the MicroContainer project.

Library

A JAR file which is not generated from source.  Many projects will have a dependency on the log4j library.