Maven's version resolution mechanism determines which version of a dependency to use when multiple versions are specified in a project's dependency tree. Here's how it works:

- Nearest Definition Wins: When multiple versions of the same dependency appear in the dependency tree, the version closest to your project in the tree will be used.

- First Declaration Wins: If two versions of the same dependency are at the same depth in the tree, the first one declared in the POM will be used.

Well, I guess this works if one appends their newly-added dependencies are appended at the end of the section in the pom.xml instead of generating it alphabetically sorted just in time for the build.