What is a web container?

A web container is the component of a web server that interacts with Java servlets. A web container manages the life cycle of servlets; it maps a URL to a particular servlet while ensuring that the requester has relevant access-rights.

The web container implements the web component aspect of the Java engineering architecture; it specifies a run time environment for various components such as security, concurrency, transaction, and deployment.

Java servlets do not have a defined main() method, so a container is required to load them. The servlet gets deployed on the container.

Let’s have a look at what happens when a client sends a certain request that requires interaction with the servlet:

• The client sends a request to a web server.

• The web server, which contains a servlet, sends that request to the container.

• The container passes the request to the respective servlet.

• The servlet methods are loaded.

• The servlet hands over the relevant response to the container, which passes it to the server. Eventually, the response reaches the client.