jakartaservlet

Jakarta Servlet, commonly referred to as the Jakarta Servlet API, is a standard set of interfaces and classes for building web components in Java. It defines the lifecycle and behavior of servlets, filters, and listeners, enabling servers to handle requests and generate responses. The core elements include the Servlet and HttpServlet interfaces, the ServletRequest and ServletResponse objects, and related facilities such as ServletContext, ServletConfig, and Filter. The API is designed to be implemented by web containers and is the foundation for dynamic web applications within the Jakarta EE platform and compatible runtimes.

History and governance: The original Java Servlet API was developed by Sun Microsystems and later standardized under the Java Community Process as part of Java EE. When stewardship of Java EE moved to the Eclipse Foundation in 2018–2019, the platform was renamed Jakarta EE. As part of the migration, the package namespace changed from javax.servlet to jakarta.servlet, and newer Jakarta Servlet versions followed Jakarta EE releases. This transition required migration for existing codebases that relied on the old namespace.

Usage and features: Servlets run inside a web container such as Apache Tomcat, Jetty, Eclipse GlassFish, or Undertow. Typical components include HttpServlet for HTTP request handling, Filter for preprocessing requests, and Listeners for lifecycle events. The API supports annotation-based configuration in place of, or alongside, web.xml, and provides mechanisms for asynchronous processing via AsyncContext. While Jakarta Servlet focuses on the request–response model, it interoperates with other Jakarta EE specifications to build full web applications.