Help the new one

[Morhem Hawk]

I have installed Apache, and tomcat, defined environmental variables as installation guide suggested, and they both running. I created very simple index.jsp in apache "htdocs" dir, but when I try to visit "localhost" in the browser, page just displays as a text.
I never had any dealings with web development before, and spent all day googling how to do even simplest things, but this time I cant seem to find the answer. I really need this stuff running). Please ask, if you need any information to answer.
What I have currently: working apache server, JDK, set env. variables, running tomcat.
UPD: I ran into this problem following this guide:
http://tduglas.blogspot.ru/2013/02/ajax-and-activemq.html

[Morhem Hawk]

Update. I was assuming, tomcat is something for apache to be able to use jsp files, but apparently, tomcat IS a webserver. What a shocking development. Sorry for stupid question.

[Tim Holloway]

Welcome to the JavaRanch, Morhem!

Commonly we call Apache httpd a "web server" and J2EE servers such as Tomcat "web application servers", but the terms are essentially interchangeable. The main difference is that Apache is primarily about static content, but can employ "external scripts" to do logic functions. Originally, that would literally be cgi shell scripts or external binary executable programs. Since then, a number of language platforms have become almost part of Apache via its module interface capabilities. For example, mod_php and mod_python.

Tomcat is specifically a J2EE application server, so its support for non-java/cgi apps is minimal, while it focuses on support for the Java language (or at least JVM) and the J2EE APIs.

It's very common to pair Apache and Tomcat to get the best of both worlds.