[[mvc-servlet]]
= DispatcherServlet

[.small]#xref:web/webflux/dispatcher-handler.adoc[See equivalent in the Reactive stack]#

Spring MVC, as many other web frameworks, is designed around the front controller
pattern where a central `Servlet`, the `DispatcherServlet`, provides a shared algorithm
for request processing, while actual work is performed by configurable delegate components.
This model is flexible and supports diverse workflows.

The `DispatcherServlet`, as any `Servlet`, needs to be declared and mapped according
to the Servlet specification by using Java configuration or in `web.xml`.
In turn, the `DispatcherServlet` uses Spring configuration to discover
the delegate components it needs for request mapping, view resolution, exception
handling, xref:web/webmvc/mvc-servlet/special-bean-types.adoc[and more].

The following example of the Java configuration registers and initializes
the `DispatcherServlet`, which is auto-detected by the Servlet container
(see xref:web/webmvc/mvc-servlet/container-config.adoc[Servlet Config]):

[tabs]
======
Java::
+
[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	public class MyWebApplicationInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {

		@Override
		public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) {

			// Load Spring web application configuration
			AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
			context.register(AppConfig.class);

			// Create and register the DispatcherServlet
			DispatcherServlet servlet = new DispatcherServlet(context);
			ServletRegistration.Dynamic registration = servletContext.addServlet("app", servlet);
			registration.setLoadOnStartup(1);
			registration.addMapping("/app/*");
		}
	}
----

Kotlin::
+
[source,kotlin,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	class MyWebApplicationInitializer : WebApplicationInitializer {

		override fun onStartup(servletContext: ServletContext) {

			// Load Spring web application configuration
			val context = AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext()
			context.register(AppConfig::class.java)

			// Create and register the DispatcherServlet
			val servlet = DispatcherServlet(context)
			val registration = servletContext.addServlet("app", servlet)
			registration.setLoadOnStartup(1)
			registration.addMapping("/app/*")
		}
	}
----
======

NOTE: In addition to using the ServletContext API directly, you can also extend
`AbstractAnnotationConfigDispatcherServletInitializer` and override specific methods
(see the example under xref:web/webmvc/mvc-servlet/context-hierarchy.adoc[Context Hierarchy]).

NOTE: For programmatic use cases, a `GenericWebApplicationContext` can be used as an
alternative to `AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext`. See the
{spring-framework-api}/web/context/support/GenericWebApplicationContext.html[`GenericWebApplicationContext`]
javadoc for details.

The following example of `web.xml` configuration registers and initializes the `DispatcherServlet`:

[source,xml,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
<web-app>

	<listener>
		<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
	</listener>

	<context-param>
		<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
		<param-value>/WEB-INF/app-context.xml</param-value>
	</context-param>

	<servlet>
		<servlet-name>app</servlet-name>
		<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
		<init-param>
			<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
			<param-value></param-value>
		</init-param>
		<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
	</servlet>

	<servlet-mapping>
		<servlet-name>app</servlet-name>
		<url-pattern>/app/*</url-pattern>
	</servlet-mapping>

</web-app>
----

NOTE: Spring Boot follows a different initialization sequence. Rather than hooking into
the lifecycle of the Servlet container, Spring Boot uses Spring configuration to
bootstrap itself and the embedded Servlet container. `Filter` and `Servlet` declarations
are detected in Spring configuration and registered with the Servlet container.
For more details, see the
{spring-boot-docs-ref}/web/servlet.html#web.servlet.embedded-container[Spring Boot documentation].