HTML forms are typically used to obtain information from visitors to a Web site - things like their name, mailing address, phone number, and the like - and this information is then processed in a variety of different ways. Some sites store it in a database; others email it to the webmaster; and still other simply redirect it to the trash basket. By using JSP to process a form, you can write simple code snippets that accomplish all of these actions.
Let's begin with a simple example.
<html>
<head>
<basefont face="Arial">
</head>
<body>
<center>
<form method="GET" action="matrix.jsp">
<table cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5" border="0">
<tr>
<td>
<font size="-1">Name, rank and serial, number, soldier!</font>
</td>
<td align="left">
<input type="text" name="name" size="10">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center">
<input type="submit">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</center>
</body>
</html>
The most critical line in this entire page is the