Plexus提供完整的软件栈，用于创建和执行软件项目。基于Plexus容器，应用程序可以利用面向组件的编程方式来构建模块化，容易集成和重复使用的可复用组件。

虽然Plexus跟其他控制反转（IoC）或依赖注入（DI）框架相似，比如Spring框架 ，事实上它更是一个支持如下许多功能的全面的容器：

●组件生命周期

●组件实例化战略

●嵌套容器

●组件配置

●自动布线

●组件依赖关系，并各种依赖注入技术，包括构造函数注入，setter注入和私人领域的注入。

Plexus框架内置了一些比较常用开发组件和工具集，如Jetty，Velocity，Hibernate，国际化等。Plexus可以利用你为其他IoC框架编写的组件，如：Spring、Avalon和Pico，而不需要做任何的修改，就跟在Plexus中使用已经存在的代码一样。

Plexus内置一个应用服务器，可以运行您的应用，这使得构建一个可独立运行并具有像执行服务这类的一般性功能的发布版本变得相当简单 。然而，通过将Plexus容器嵌入到其他的应用中Plexus应用能够运行在任何环境，包括Java EE应用程序或Web应用程序。

Plexus组件不需要Java编写，而是使用已经存在的针对Jython, JRuby, Beanshell, 和Groovy的组件工厂。

Pleuxs容器在很多框架和项目中被使用，尤其在Maven2.0和WebWork 2.2（也就是strusts2框架）中。

The Plexus project provides a full software stack for creating and executing software projects. Based on the Plexus container, the applications can utilise component-oriented programming to build modular, reusable components that can easily be assembled and reused.

While Plexus is similar to other inversion-of-control (IoC) or dependency injection frameworks such as the Spring Framework, it is a full-fledged container that supports many more features such as:

Component lifecycles Component instantiation strategies Nested containers Component configuration Auto-wiring Component dependencies, and Various dependency injection techniques including constructor injection, setter injection, and private field injection. See the Feature Comparison page for more information on the differences between Plexus and other products.

The Plexus project provides a number of pre-built components for common tasks and toolkits such as Jetty, Velocity, Hibernate, i18n, and many more. However, Plexus is also able to reuse your existing components written for other IoC frameworks such as Spring, Avalon and Pico Container unmodified, as well as allowing you to reuse your existing code inside the Plexus Container.

Plexus comes with an application server that can run your applications, making it trivial to build a standalone executable distribution with common features such as service execution if needed. However, Plexus applications can be run in any environment by embedding the container in an existing application, including Java EE applications or web applications.

Components in Plexus need not be written in Java, with component factories existing for Jython, JRuby, Beanshell, and Groovy.

The Plexus container is currently used in a number of applications and frameworks, most notably Maven 2.0 and Webwork 2.2 (Struts Action Framework 2.0).

For answers to common questions about Plexus, see the FAQ.