A web container (also known as a servlet container; and compare "webcontainer" ) is the component of a web server that interacts with Jakarta Servlets. A web container is responsible for managing the lifecycle of servlets, mapping a

URL A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed as a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifie ...

to a particular servlet and ensuring that the URL requester has the correct access-rights. A web container handles requests to servlets, Jakarta Server Pages (JSP) files, and other types of files that include server-side code. The Web container creates servlet instances, loads and unloads servlets, creates and manages request and response objects, and performs other servlet-management tasks. A web container implements the web component contract of the Jakarta EE architecture. This architecture specifies a

runtime environment In computer programming, a runtime system or runtime environment is a sub-system that exists both in the computer where a program is created, as well as in the computers where the program is intended to be run. The name comes from the compile ...

for additional web components, including

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

, lifecycle management,

transaction Transaction or transactional may refer to: Commerce * Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment *Debits and credits in a Double-entry bookkeeping sys ...

, deployment, and other services.

List of Servlet containers

The following is a list of applications which implement the Jakarta Servlet specification from

Eclipse Foundation The Eclipse Foundation AISBL is an independent, Europe-based not-for-profit corporation that acts as a steward of the Eclipse open source software development community, with legal jurisdiction in the European Union. It is an organization supp ...

, divided depending on whether they are directly sold or not.

Open source Web containers

* Apache Tomcat (formerly Jakarta Tomcat) is an open source web container available under the Apache Software License. ** Apache Tomcat 6 and above are operable as general application container (prior versions were web containers only) * Apache Geronimo is a full Java EE 6 implementation by Apache Software Foundation. * Enhydra, from

Lutris Technologies Lutris Technologies, Inc. was an enterprise software and services company based in Santa Cruz, California. It developed an application server called Enhydra Server through about 2005. History Lutris was founded by Paul Morgan and Michael Browde ...

. * GlassFish from

(an application server, but includes a web container). * Jaminid contains a higher abstraction than servlets. *

Jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

, from the

. Also supports SPDY and WebSocket protocols. * Payara is another application server, derived from Glassfish. * Winstone supports specification v2.5 as of 0.9, has a focus on minimal configuration and the ability to strip the container down to only what you need. * Tiny Java Web Server (TJWS) 2.

small footprint, modular design. * Virgo (software), Virgo from

provides modular, OSGi based web containers implemented using embedded Tomcat and

. Virgo is available under the Eclipse Public License. * WildFly (formerly JBoss Application Server) is a full Java EE implementation by Red Hat, division JBoss.

Commercial Web containers

iPlanet Web Server Oracle iPlanet Web Server (OiWS) is a web server designed for medium and large business applications. Previous versions were marketed as Netscape Enterprise Server, iPlanet Web Server, Sun ONE Web Server, and Sun Java System Web Server. Oracle i ...

, from

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The wor ...

. * JBoss Enterprise Application Platform from Red Hat, division JBoss is subscription-based/ open-source Jakarta EE-based application server. * JRun, from Adobe Systems (formerly developed by Allaire Corporation). * WebLogic Application Server, from

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

(formerly developed by BEA Systems). * Orion Application Server, from IronFlare. * Resin Pro, from Caucho Technology. * ServletExec, from New Atlanta Communications. * IBM WebSphere Application Server. *

SAP NetWeaver SAP NetWeaver is a software stack for many of SAP SE's applications. The SAP NetWeaver Application Server, sometimes referred to as WebAS, is the runtime environment for the SAP applications and all of the mySAP Business Suite runs on SAP Web ...

. * tc Server, from SpringSource Inc.

References

Computer networking Java platform Software architecture Web applications Web development {{Compu-network-stub