This <c:out> (used to illustrate what happens for an invalid bean property) <c:out value="${pageContext.request.requestUri}" /> results in this exception root cause: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/apache/taglibs/standard/tag/el/core/ExprTag at java.lang.Class.newInstance0(Native Method) at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:237) at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet$JspServletWrapper.load(JspServlet.java:139) ... in the 4/18 build. Other <c:out>'s work fine. Maybe there's an old reference to ExprTag (now called OutTag, I believe) in a class related to exception handling?
Hans, this doesn't sound right; just to be sure, I checked for textual dependencies on the class's name in JSTL. Are you sure you're working from a pristine environment, with no classes hanging around from a prior build and no old files in Tomcat's workspace?
Ah, a servlet had been generated and compiled for this page with an earlier version of JSTL, including references to the ExprTag instead of OutTag. Forcing a recompile fixed it. Sorry about that.