It took me the whole afternoon and most of night to find out why my first jsp progamm didn't work!
when you use "jsp:useBean" to find your java class, don't put it in default package!! because that wont work! Although we all know that WEB-INF/classes will be searched by tomcat to find your jsp beans, you cant put your *.class files directly under "WEB-INF/classes" directory, instead, you have to put your beans in a package!! For example, you have to created a sub directory called "beans" under "WEB-INF/classes" and add following line at the beginning of your beans code:
"package beans;" Of couse you have to use sth like
jsp:useBean id="xx" class="beans.YouClassName"
in your jsp code.
Kind of stupid..