Apache updates Tomcat web server

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A new version of the open source web server Tomcat has been unveiled.

Version 7 of the Java web server has been released by open source leaders the Apache Software Foundation and is the first update to the product since 2006.

The foundation has claimed the latest incarnation fully implements Java Servlet 3.0, JavaServer Pages (JSP) 2.2 and Expression Language (EL) 2.2 specifications to make web framework integration much simpler.

It also said the updates allow for "out-of-the-box" support for developers, where before they would have had to code manually.

Ross Mason, founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of MuleSoft, said: "The improvements in this new release leverage advances in Java significantly improving the lives of the world's web application developers."

He added: "This release includes more than 10 years of active community development effort, continuing Tomcat's lead as the best Java web application server to power the enterprise."

There have been more than 10 million downloads of Tomcat so far and this latest edition fixes all known issues from its predecessors.

Apache has said it will continue to support versions 5.5 x and 6.0 x but patches for bugs and security flaws may take more time.

Tomcat 7 is available from today and can be downloaded here.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.