
Java
A Servlet Mapping is a directive in the web.xml that tells the Servlet Container which class to use when a particular Servlet is called. A Servlet is a class within your
Java Web Application. Let's say you have a servlet called MyServlet in the com.example.servlet package. You would need to have a Servlet Mapping pointing the path "/MyServlet" to the "com.example.servlet.MyServlet" class. Without the servlet mapping, you would not be able to invoke your servlet because the Servlet container would not know where it is. JSPs are different - they do not need mappings like this. JSPs exist within the WebRoot of the application, so they are always available. Servlets exist in the WEB-INF\Classes directory once your application is deployed.