diff --git a/maven-plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/AbstractCompilerMojo.java b/maven-plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/AbstractCompilerMojo.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4bd69e4c97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/AbstractCompilerMojo.java
@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+package org.apache.maven.plugin;
+
+/*
+ * Copyright 2001-2005 The Apache Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.Compiler;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.CompilerConfiguration;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.CompilerError;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.javac.JavacCompiler;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.util.scan.InclusionScanException;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.util.scan.SourceInclusionScanner;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.util.scan.StaleSourceScanner;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.util.scan.mapping.SuffixMapping;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+public abstract class AbstractCompilerMojo
+    extends AbstractPlugin
+{
+
+    private Compiler compiler = new JavacCompiler();
+    
+    // TODO: use boolean when supported
+    /**
+     * Whether to include debugging information in the compiled class files.
+     * <br/>
+     * <br/>
+     * The default value is true.
+     * 
+     * @parameter expression="${maven.compiler.debug}"
+     */
+    private String debug = Boolean.TRUE.toString();
+    
+    /**
+     * The -source argument for the Java compiler
+     * 
+     * @parameter
+     */
+    private String source;
+    
+    /**
+     * The -target argument for the Java compiler
+     * 
+     * @parameter
+     */
+    private String target;
+    
+    // TODO: Use long when supported
+    /**
+     * The granularity in milliseconds of the last modification
+     * date for testing whether a source needs recompilation
+     * 
+     * @parameter alias="${lastModGranularityMs}"
+     */
+    private String staleMillis = "0";
+    
+    protected abstract List getClasspathElements();
+
+    protected abstract List getCompileSourceRoots();
+
+    protected abstract String getOutputDirectory();
+
+    public void execute()
+        throws PluginExecutionException
+    {
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        //
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        List compileSourceRoots = removeEmptyCompileSourceRoots( getCompileSourceRoots() );
+        if ( compileSourceRoots.isEmpty() )
+        {
+            getLog().info( "No sources to compile" );
+            return;
+        }
+
+        CompilerConfiguration compilerConfiguration = new CompilerConfiguration();
+
+        compilerConfiguration.setOutputLocation( getOutputDirectory() );
+        compilerConfiguration.setClasspathEntries( getClasspathElements() );
+        compilerConfiguration.setSourceLocations( compileSourceRoots );
+
+        // TODO: have an option to always compile (without need to clean)
+        Set staleSources = computeStaleSources();
+
+        if ( staleSources.isEmpty() )
+        {
+            getLog().info( "Nothing to compile - all classes are up to date" );
+            return;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            compilerConfiguration.setSourceFiles( staleSources );
+        }
+
+        if ( source != null )
+        {
+            compilerConfiguration.addCompilerOption( "-source", source );
+        }
+
+        if ( target != null )
+        {
+            compilerConfiguration.addCompilerOption( "-target", target );
+        }
+
+        if ( debug != null && "true".equals( debug ) )
+        {
+            compilerConfiguration.setDebug( true );
+        }
+
+        List messages = null;
+        try
+        {
+            messages = compiler.compile( compilerConfiguration );
+        }
+        catch ( Exception e )
+        {
+            // TODO: don't catch Exception
+            throw new PluginExecutionException( "Fatal error compiling", e );
+        }
+
+        boolean compilationError = false;
+
+        for ( Iterator i = messages.iterator(); i.hasNext(); )
+        {
+            CompilerError message = (CompilerError) i.next();
+
+            if ( message.isError() )
+            {
+                compilationError = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ( compilationError )
+        {
+            throw new CompilationFailureException( messages );
+        }
+    }
+
+    private Set computeStaleSources()
+        throws PluginExecutionException
+    {
+        long staleTime = 0;
+
+        if ( staleMillis != null && staleMillis.length() > 0 )
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                staleTime = Long.parseLong( staleMillis );
+            }
+            catch ( NumberFormatException e )
+            {
+                throw new PluginExecutionException( "Invalid staleMillis plugin parameter value: \'" + staleMillis
+                    + "\'", e );
+            }
+
+        }
+        SuffixMapping mapping = new SuffixMapping( ".java", ".class" );
+
+        SourceInclusionScanner scanner = new StaleSourceScanner( staleTime );
+
+        scanner.addSourceMapping( mapping );
+
+        File outDir = new File( getOutputDirectory() );
+
+        Set staleSources = new HashSet();
+
+        for ( Iterator it = getCompileSourceRoots().iterator(); it.hasNext(); )
+        {
+            String sourceRoot = (String) it.next();
+
+            File rootFile = new File( sourceRoot );
+
+            try
+            {
+                staleSources.addAll( scanner.getIncludedSources( rootFile, outDir ) );
+            }
+            catch ( InclusionScanException e )
+            {
+                throw new PluginExecutionException( "Error scanning source root: \'" + sourceRoot
+                    + "\' for stale files to recompile.", e );
+            }
+        }
+
+        return staleSources;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @todo also in ant plugin. This should be resolved at some point so that it does not need to
+     * be calculated continuously - or should the plugins accept empty source roots as is?
+     */
+    private static List removeEmptyCompileSourceRoots( List compileSourceRootsList )
+    {
+        List newCompileSourceRootsList = new ArrayList();
+        if ( compileSourceRootsList != null )
+        {
+            // copy as I may be modifying it
+            for ( Iterator i = compileSourceRootsList.iterator(); i.hasNext(); )
+            {
+                String srcDir = (String) i.next();
+                if ( !newCompileSourceRootsList.contains( srcDir ) && new File( srcDir ).exists() )
+                {
+                    newCompileSourceRootsList.add( srcDir );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return newCompileSourceRootsList;
+    }
+
+}