Difference between the Apache HTTP Server and Apache Tomcat?

apache tomcat webserver
kaybenleroll picture kaybenleroll · Aug 27, 2008 · Viewed 579.9k times · Source

What is the difference in terms of functionality between the Apache HTTP Server and Apache Tomcat?

I know that Tomcat is written in Java and the HTTP Server is in C, but other than that I do not really know how they are distinguished. Do they have different functionality?

Answer

Bernie Perez picture Bernie Perez · Aug 27, 2008

Apache Tomcat is used to deploy your Java Servlets and JSPs. So in your Java project you can build your WAR (short for Web ARchive) file, and just drop it in the deploy directory in Tomcat.

So basically Apache is an HTTP Server, serving HTTP. Tomcat is a Servlet and JSP Server serving Java technologies.

Tomcat includes Catalina, which is a servlet container. A servlet, at the end, is a Java class. JSP files (which are similar to PHP, and older ASP files) are generated into Java code (HttpServlet), which is then compiled to .class files by the server and executed by the Java virtual machine.

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