Description:

EL is the JSP 2.0 Expression Language Interpreter from Apache.

The JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL), version 1.0, introduced the concept of an
Expression Language (EL), whose main goal is to provide page authors with an
easy way to access and manipulate application data without requiring the use
of scriptlets.

JSP 2.0 adopted the EL specification from JSTL, and expanded its scope: EL
expressions are no longer limited to JSTL action attributes, but may be used
in any standard or custom action attribute declared to accept a runtime
expression.

In addition, EL expressions may now also be used directly in template text
outside of any actions. JSP 2.0 also added an important feature to the EL
specification: EL functions, which allow page authors to invoke static
methods in Java classes from EL expressions.

Additionally, JSP 2.0 allows programmatic access and customization of the EL
evaluator through a set of standard interfaces and abstract classes.