Understanding Expression Language in JSP
JSP Expression Language
Expression Language(EL) was added to JSP 2.0 specification. The purpose of EL is to produce scriptless JSP pages. The syntax of EL in a JSP is as follows:
${expr}Here expr is a valid EL expression. An expression can be mixed with static text/values and can also be combined with other expressions to form larger expression.

How EL expression is used?
EL expression can be used in two ways in a JSP page
As attribute values in standard and custom tags. Example:
<jsp:include page="${location}">Where location variable is separately defines in the jsp page.
Expressions can also be used in
jsp:setPropertyto set a properties value, using other bean properties like : If we have a bean named Square with properties length, breadth and area.<jsp:setProperty name="square" property="area" value="${square.length*square.breadth}" />To output in HTML tag:
<h1>Welcome ${name}</h1>
To deactivate the evaluation of EL expressions, we specify the isELIgnored attribute of the page directive as below:
<%@ page isELIgnored ="true|false" %>JSP EL Implicit Objects
Following are the implicit objects in EL :
| Implicit Object | Description |
|---|---|
| pageContext | It represents the PageContext object. |
| pageScope | It is used to access the value of any variable which is set in the Page scope |
| requestScope | It is used to access the value of any variable which is set in the Request scope. |
| sessionScope | It is used to access the value of any variable which is set in the Session scope |
| applicationScope | It is used to access the value of any variable which is set in the Application scope |
| param | Map a request parameter name to a single value |
| paramValues | Map a request parameter name to corresponding array of string values. |
| header | Map containing header names and single string values. |
| headerValues | Map containing header names to corresponding array of string values. |
| cookie | Map containing cookie names and single string values. |
Example of JSP EL
Let's take a simple example for understanding the JSP expression language,
index.jsp
<form method="POST" action="welcome.jsp">
Name <input type="text" name="user" >
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>welcome.jsp
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome ${param.name}</h1>
</body>
</html>Arithmetic Operations available in EL
Following are the arithmetic operators avilable in EL:
| Arithmetic Operation | Operator |
|---|---|
| Addition | + |
| Substraction | - |
| Multiplication | * |
| Division | / and div |
| Remainder | % and mod |
Logical and Relational Operators available in EL
Following are the logical operator and comparators avilable in EL:
| Logical and Relational Operator | Operator |
|---|---|
| Equals | == and eq |
| Not equals | != and ne |
| Less Than | < and lt |
| Greater Than | > and gt |
| Greater Than or Equal | >= and ge |
| Less Than or Equal | <= and le |
| and | && and and |
| or | ` |
| not | ! and not |










