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The JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) is a collection of custom tag libraries that implement general-purpose functionality common to Web applications, including iteration and conditionalization, data management formatting, manipulation of XML, and database access. In this first installment of his new series on developerWorks, software engineer Mark Kolb shows you how to use JSTL tags to avoid using scripting elements in your JSP pages. You'll also learn how to simplify software maintenance by removing source code from the presentation layer. Finally, you'll learn about JSTL's simplified expression language, which allows dynamic attribute values to be specified for JSTL actions without having to use a full-blown programming language.

JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology is the standard presentation-layer technology for the J2EE platform. JSP technology provides both scripting elements and actions for performing computations intended to generate page content dynamically. Scripting elements allow program source code to be included in a JSP page for execution when the page is rendered in response to a user request. Actions encapsulate computational operations into tags that more closely resemble the HTML or XML markup that typically comprises the template text of a JSP page. There are only a handful of actions defined as standard by the JSP specification, but starting with JSP 1.1, developers have been able to create their own actions in the form of custom tag libraries.

The JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) is a collection of JSP 1.2 custom tag libraries that implement basic functionality common to a wide range of server-side Java applications. By providing standard implementations for typical presentation-layer tasks such as data formatting and iterative or conditional content, JSTL allows JSP authors to focus on application-specific development needs, rather than "reinventing the wheel" for these generic operations.

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