title: What is a maven settings.xml file and how it is different from pom.xml
body: <p>I am working on build a Android Maven project, and learning how to set up and take advantages of maven in android application development.</p>
  
  <p>While I am reading some documentation (<a href="http://books.sonatype.com/mvnref-book/reference/android-dev-sect-config.html" rel="noreferrer">http://books.sonatype.com/mvnref-book/reference/android-dev-sect-config.html</a>) it mentioned we could config maven plug-in in either <code>settings.xml</code> file, or put configuration into the <code>pom.xml</code> file. </p>
  
  <p>I am a little confused about the usage of the two files. Do I need to have settings.xml in the maven project. How <code>Settings.xml</code> different from <code>pom.xml</code>?</p>
  
  <p>Thank you,
  Allan</p>