Difference between / and /* in servlet mapping url pattern

Question

The familiar code:

    main
             


        

Answer 1

I'd like to supplement BalusC's answer with the mapping rules and an example.

Mapping rules from Servlet 2.5 specification:

1. Map exact URL
2. Map wildcard paths
3. Map extensions
4. Map to the default servlet

In our example, there're three servlets. / is the default servlet installed by us. Tomcat installs two servlets to serve jsp and jspx. So to map http://host:port/context/hello

1. No exact URL servlets installed, next.
2. No wildcard paths servlets installed, next.
3. Doesn't match any extensions, next.
4. Map to the default servlet, return.

To map http://host:port/context/hello.jsp

1. No exact URL servlets installed, next.
2. No wildcard paths servlets installed, next.
3. Found extension servlet, return.