> Not true at all. 3.x only implements Servlet API 2.2 and 4.0 implements
> Servlet API latest and greatest.
>
> On top of it, I (and others) would be STRONGLY -1 for adding Servlet API 2.3
> support to 3.x within the Jakarta project. That is why Costin has already
> agreed and stated that he will fork that addition to another location.
>
> Therefore, as long as 3.x does not have support for 2.3, it is a dead end
> solution IMHO and adding support for 2.3 within 3.x would be a duplication
> of effort since we already have a 2.3 container (hence the reason why I am
> -1 and why Costin has already stated he plans to fork that addition
> somewhere else).
Thanks Jon, you are right about this and I now agree with you that servlet
2.3 support for tomcat 3.x shouldn't be developed as part of this project,
but as an independent module.
But you can look at the good side - people using Tomcat3.2 will have a
smooth transition from Servlet2.2 to Servlet2.3, and why not even further
in the future.
Tomcat3.3 is designed to allow multiple facades - while it'll be only a
servlet 2.2 container, people can make a Servlet2.3 module available and
you will be able to do a gradual transition ( and when all your
applications are 2.3 you could switch to another 2.3 container ).
And ( in case someone will flame that "this is an architecture change in
3.3" ) - this design was part of tomcat from 3.0 and before - but the
implementation was pretty bad, and only in 3.3 we can take advantage of
this architecture. ( and no, it's not my idea, I actually believed it's a
bad idea when I first saw it ).
Speaking of future, the same thing can happen when the next servlet spec
is released - and again you could use tomcat3.3 to have a smooth future.
I know how painfull it is to upgrade a production server - how many small
things will stop working and many things will be different.
Yes, a Servlet2.3 container should run any 2.2 servlet - but will this be
true for Servlet 3.0 ( or 2.4 or whatever will be next ) ?
( not to mention that there are still 2.2 servlets that have problems
moving from one 2.2 container to another :-)
And another "read of the future" - you can be sure you'll have a better
and better container as we move forward. Having more than one solution is
allways better then having only one, and as long as none is perfect I'm
sure some synergy can exist ( or at least I'm trying to learn and reuse
as much as possible from 4.0 - so whatever will happen in the future in
4.0 can happen in 3.3 too )
Costin
