In addition, the qualified named suggested in the tutorial is indeed "firstStepsServlet.FirstStepsApplication" and not "com.firstStepsServlet.FirstStepsApplication".
Therefore, the suggested param value in web.xml is correct.
Could you confirm that this fixes your issue? Also, did you have Servlet deployment knowledge before reading the tutorial? If not, that would explain the pain. In this case, the standalone mode is probably a better fit.
