Tag libraries

Java ServerPages (JSP) tag libraries contain classes for common tasks such as processing forms and accessing databases from JSP files.

Tag libraries encapsulate, as simple tags, core functionality common to many Webapps. The Java Standard Tag Library (JSTL) supports common programming tasks such as iteration and conditional processing, and provides tags for:

• manipulating XML documents
• supporting internationalization
• using Structured Query Language (SQL)

Tag libraries also introduce the concept of an expression language to simplify page development, and include a version of the JSP expression language.

A tag library has two parts - a Tag Library Descriptor (TLD) file and a JAR file.