Common concerns to build a project

Some of the common concerns while building a project are :
1. Project directory structure: The directory structure of a Web application project is different from that of an EJB application project. Similarly the output of a Web application project is typically a WAR file while that of an EJB application is a JAR file. 

2. Directory naming conventions: For a specific project type, the typical requirements in terms of directory layout and naming conventions are almost the same. Without a unified framework such as Maven, developers mostly spend time in configuring such nitty details like setting up directories for source, resources, test case source, testing time resources, classes, and project dependencies. 

3. The build output: Developers spend a good chunk of time in creating build scripts such as ANT scripts to execute build tasks according to the project layout. This entire endeavor ends up being chaotic and in a large-scale project it can lead to a maintenance nightmare demanding dedicated resources just to focus on such build aspects.