Head First Servlets and JSP, 2nd Edition

The <c:if> tag won’t work for this

There’s no way to do exactly what we want using the <c:if> tag, because it doesn’t have an “else”. We can almost do it, using something like:

JSP using <c:if>, but it doesn’t work right...

<c:if test="${userPref=='performance'}" >
    Now you can stop even if you <em>do</em> drive insanely fast..
</c:if>
<c:if test="${userPref=='safety'}" >
    Our brakes won't lock up no matter how bad a driver you are.
</c:if>
<c:if test="${userPref=='maintenance'}" >
    Lost your tech job? No problem--you won't have to service these brakes
    for at least three years.
</c:if>

Note

But what happens if userPref doesn’t match any of these? There’s no way to specify the default headline?

<!-- continue with the rest of the page that EVERYONE should see -->

The <c:if> won’t work unless we’re CERTAIN that we’ll never need a default value. What we really need is kind of an if/else construct:^[8]

JSP with scripting, and it does what we want

^[8] Yes, we agree with you—there’s nearly always a better approach than chained if tests. But you’re just gonna have to suspend disbelief long enough to learn how this all works....