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Doubt in request.getSession(boolean) !

 
Greenhorn
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My knowledge was:
i) request.getSession() or request.getSession(true) returns either the session associated with the request or creates a new session
ii) request.getSession(false) returns either the session associated with the request or NULL if no session exists

Until I came across this in one of the mock tests, which confused me



The question was:

What would happen when the JSP is requested for the first time and this is the first request in the application?

I answered that it will throw 'NullPointerException' when trying to perform 'Integer count = (Integer) sessionx.getAttribute("count");', as the session does not exist.

But the correct answer is that it works fine and prints 'Hello!' (also setting the attribute in session).
Also this works as per the answer in Tomcat.

Anybody can provide an explanation for this?
 
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I'd agree with you.
Looks like a mistake to me.
 
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Hi

By default the session attribute in the page directive is true.So every jsp page contains session object.


Thanks

Anil Kumar
 
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That's it! As Anil has pointed out, a session gets created for every JSP page that don't have a session attribute set to "false" in the page directive.
 
Ashwin Kumar
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Thanks for the clarification! I think this is a very tricky point
 
Ranch Hand
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Important thing,

Lookout for this directive on top.

<%@ page session="false" %>



by default its true, but if you set it to false there is no session implicit variable in the page, now if you do request.getSession(false) it will return null.
 
Mark Garland
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I really don't like questions like this.

I think there's a difference between testing candidates and deliberately trying to trick them, and in my mind, this question crosses the line.
 
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I don't think there'd be such a question at the exam
 
Mark Garland
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I'd be really disappointed if one did.

When studying for an exam, there is an argument that these type of questions serve some purpose. i.e. the person who got this question wrong will probably always check that the session has been declared in the page directive, and will probably know the default from this point forward. In this instance, this example has served some purpose.

However, I found that when my exam was looming, confidence was a big issue for me. There are even studies that show that when a candidate feels that they have done badly in a question (denting confidence), they are far more likely to perform badly in subsequent questions. So, when I reached the end of a chapter, having read it several times and trying to convince myself that "I am ready for this" and that "I can do this", to then come out with a failing score because the authors put in some trick questions, was very disheartening and seriously damaging.

MG
 
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