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Maven uses filtering to replace placeholders in the web.xml file with appropriate values specific to the environment the application is being built for. Placeholder values are typically defined in the project's pom.xml.

Maven creates multiple copies of web.xml file by creating a copy of the original web.xml file for each value set defined in the project's pom.xml. For example, if there are three different environment configurations (dev, test, and prod) defined in the pom.xml file, then during the build process, Maven will create three copies of the web.xml file, each with the appropriate placeholders replaced with values specific to that environment.

This approach allows developers to use a single web.xml file that can be customized for each environment, without needing to manually edit the file each time it needs to be deployed to a different environment. The result is a more streamlined development process that reduces the likelihood of errors and improves the overall quality of the application.