Question

I am confused with arrangement in the declaration Elements. Is there any difference if I write like this:

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

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

Or like this?

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

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

Answer 1

Yes and no:

• yes – the order of some elements like <filter-mapping/> is relevant, as it will change the order of actual filters being applied. Also the schema for web.xml defines the order of various elements.

• no – the order of other elements is irrelevant, e.g. the order in which you declare <servlet/>s. Also in your example it doesn’t make any difference.