Since JSPs adhere to a standard API, can I precompile them in my projects and then deploy the result on any server?
Specifically, I'm using Tomcat, JBoss and WebSphere.
+1
A:
Since the servlet/JSP engines are different between app servers there could be byte code added that's not portable.
I'd have to write a test to confirm it. If I have time I'll try it with Tomcat and WebLogic and report back.
duffymo
2010-07-27 09:57:38
I'm not worried about byte code added at runtime.
Aaron Digulla
2010-07-27 11:46:35
You will be if it expects app server specific JARs to be in the CLASSPATH and doesn't find them.
duffymo
2010-07-27 12:08:00
+4
A:
No, not really. If you look at the java source that gets created by the JSP compiler, you'll see that it extends a base class that's proprietary to the container. For example, JBoss 4's servlet container generates JSP classes that extend org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase, which is Tomcat and JBossWeb-specific.
So you might be able to reuse pre-compiled JSPs between different tomcat-based servers, but even then it might not work.
skaffman
2010-07-27 09:58:15
+1. Another point is that the compiler itself tends to be a different class altogether - Tomcat uses the Jasper compiler, which need not be the case with other servlet/JSP containers. NB: WebLogic uses the weblogic.appc class to flag off the compilation process.
Vineet Reynolds
2010-07-27 10:04:22