To use SLF4J and logback together, add the following to pom.xml:

<dependency>
 <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
 <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
 <version>1.7.5</version>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
 <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
 <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
 <version>1.0.13</version>
 <scope>runtime</scope>
 </dependency>

<dependency>
 <groupId>junit</groupId>
 <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
 <version>3.8.1</version>
 <scope>test</scope>
 </dependency>

Now SLF4J’s logger can be used:

import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
....
private final Logger logger =  LoggerFactory.getLogger(MyClass.class);
...
logger.debug("Mandatory fields are missing");

If while running this in Eclipse or in console, it complains of some missing configuration, add thisto pom.xml:

<build>
        <pluginManagement>
            <plugins>
                <plugin>
                    <groupId>org.eclipse.m2e</groupId>
                    <artifactId>lifecycle-mapping</artifactId>
                    <version>1.0.0</version>
                    <configuration>
                        <lifecycleMappingMetadata>
                            <pluginExecutions>
                                <pluginExecution>
                                    <pluginExecutionFilter>
                                        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                                        <artifactId>properties-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                                        <versionRange>[1.0-alpha-2,)</versionRange>
                                        <goals>
                                            <goal>set-system-properties</goal>
                                        </goals>
                                    </pluginExecutionFilter>
                                    <action>
                                        <ignore />
                                    </action>
                                </pluginExecution>
                            </pluginExecutions>
                        </lifecycleMappingMetadata>
                    </configuration>
                </plugin>
            </plugins>
        </pluginManagement>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>properties-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.0-alpha-2</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>set-system-properties</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <properties>
                                <property>
                                    <name>logback.configurationFile</name>
                                    <value>src/main/resources/logback.xml</value>
                                </property>
                            </properties>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

Here “src/main/resources/logback.xml” has the logback configuration. Even if it is not present output may be sent to console