A web container (also known as a servlet container; and compare "webcontainer" ) is the component of a

web server A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initiate ...

that interacts with

Jakarta Servlet A Jakarta Servlet (formerly Java Servlet) is a Java software component that extends the capabilities of a server. Although servlets can respond to many types of requests, they most commonly implement web containers for hosting web application ...

s. A web container is responsible for managing the lifecycle of servlets, mapping a URL to a particular servlet and ensuring that the URL requester has the correct access-rights. A web container handles requests to

servlet A Jakarta Servlet (formerly Java Servlet) is a Java software component that extends the capabilities of a server. Although servlets can respond to many types of requests, they most commonly implement web containers for hosting web application ...

Jakarta Server Pages Jakarta Server Pages (JSP; formerly JavaServer Pages) is a collection of technologies that helps software developers create dynamically generated web pages based on HTML, XML, SOAP, or other document types. Released in 1999 by Sun Microsystems, ...

(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 Jakarta EE, formerly Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), is a set of specifications, extending Java SE with specifications for enterprise features such as distributed computing and web serv ...

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 t ...

for additional web components, including

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

, concurrency, lifecycle management, transaction, deployment, and other services.

List of Servlet containers

The following is a list of applications which implement the

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 suppo ...

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

Open source Web containers

Apache Tomcat Apache Tomcat (called "Tomcat" for short) is a free and open-source implementation of the Jakarta Servlet, Jakarta Expression Language, and WebSocket technologies. It provides a "pure Java" HTTP web server environment in which Java code can also ...

(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 Apache Geronimo is an open source application server developed by the Apache Software Foundation and distributed under the Apache license. Geronimo 3, the current version, is compatible with the Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 6 specification ...

is a full

Java EE Jakarta EE, formerly Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), is a set of specifications, extending Java SE with specifications for enterprise features such as distributed computing and web serv ...

6 implementation by

Apache Software Foundation The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is an American nonprofit corporation (classified as a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States) to support a number of open source software projects. The ASF was formed from a group of developers of the A ...

. *

Enhydra ''Enhydra'' is a genus of mustelid that contains the sea otter and two extinct relatives. It is the only extant genus of the bunodont otters group, referring to otters with non-blade carnassials with rounded cusps. Sea otters probably diverged f ...

, 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 GlassFish is an open-source Jakarta EE platform application server project started by Sun Microsystems, then sponsored by Oracle Corporation, and now living at the Eclipse Foundation and supported by Payara, Oracle and Red Hat. The supported v ...

from

(an

application server An application server is a server that hosts applications or software that delivers a business application through a communication protocol. An application server framework is a service layer model. It includes software components available to a ...

, 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 SPDY (pronounced "speedy") is an obsolete open-specification communication protocol developed for transporting web content. SPDY became the basis for HTTP/2 specification. However, HTTP/2 diverged from SPDY and eventually HTTP/2 subsumed all u ...

and

WebSocket WebSocket is a computer communications protocol, providing full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection. The WebSocket protocol was standardized by the IETF as in 2011. The current API specification allowing web applications ...

protocols. *

Payara The payara, ''Hydrolycus scomberoides'', is a species of dogtooth tetra. This predatory fish is found in the Amazon Basin in tropical South America.SeriouslyFish: Hydrolycus scomberoides.' Retrieved 31 October 2015. It was the first of four sp ...

is another application server, derived from Glassfish. *

Winstone Winstone is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. The population taken at the 2011 census was 270. Winstone forms part of the Cotswold District. The Anglican Church of St Bartholomew was built in the 11th cent ...

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 OSGi is an open specification and open source project under the Eclipse Foundation. It is a continuation of the work done by the OSGi Alliance (formerly known as the Open Services Gateway initiative), which was an open standards organization for ...

based web containers implemented using embedded

Tomcat Tomcat may refer to: Animals * A sexually mature male cat * Paederus, known as in Indonesia Science and technology * Apache Tomcat, an implementation of Java web-server technologies * Beretta 3032 Tomcat, a pistol * Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a f ...

and

. Virgo is available under the

Eclipse Public License The Eclipse Public License (EPL) is a free and open source software license most notably used for the Eclipse IDE and other projects by the Eclipse Foundation. It replaces the Common Public License (CPL) and removes certain terms relating to ...

. *

WildFly WildFly, formerly known as JBoss AS, or simply JBoss, is an application server written by JBoss, now developed by Red Hat. WildFly is written in Java and implements the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) specification. It runs on mul ...

(formerly JBoss Application Server) is a full

implementation by

Red Hat Red Hat, Inc. is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with other offices worldwide. Red Hat has become ass ...

, division

JBoss WildFly, formerly known as JBoss AS, or simply JBoss, is an application server written by JBoss, now developed by Red Hat. WildFly is written in Java and implements the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) specification. It runs on mul ...

Commercial Web containers

* iPlanet Web Server, 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 word '' ...

. *

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform The JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (or JBoss EAP) is a subscription-based/open-source Java EE-based application server runtime platform used for building, deploying, and hosting highly-transactional Java applications and services develop ...

from

, division

is subscription-based/

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

-based

. *

JRun JRun is a J2EE application server, originally developed in 1997 as a Java Servlet engine by Live Software and subsequently purchased by Allaire, who brought out the first J2EE compliant version. It was acquired by Macromedia prior to its 2001 ta ...

, from

Adobe Systems Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...

(formerly developed by Allaire Corporation). *

WebLogic Application Server Oracle WebLogic Server is a Java EE application server currently developed by Oracle Corporation. Oracle acquired WebLogic Server when it purchased BEA Systems in 2008. Application Server versions * WebLogic Server 14c (14.1.1) - March 30, 2020 ...

, 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 Orion Application Server is a Java EE application server developed by Swedish company IronFlare AB, founded by Magnus Stenman and Karl Avedal. First released in 1999, Orion claims to be the first commercially available application server with full ...

, from IronFlare. * Resin Pro, from Caucho Technology. * ServletExec, from New Atlanta Communications. *

IBM WebSphere Application Server WebSphere Application Server (WAS) is a software product that performs the role of a web application server. More specifically, it is a software framework and middleware that hosts Java-based web applications. It is the flagship product with ...

. *

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 WebAS: ...

. * tc Server, from SpringSource Inc.

References

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