RequestDispatcher.forward() vs HttpServletResponse.sendRedirect()

user_214131 0
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What is the conceptual difference between forward() and sendRedirect()?

forward redirect servlets jsp
9 Answers

In the web development world, the term "redirect" is the act of sending the client an empty HTTP response with just a Location header containing the new URL to which the client has to send a brand new GET request. So basically:

  • Client sends a HTTP request to some.jsp.
  • Server sends a HTTP response back with Location: other.jsp header
  • Client sends a HTTP request to other.jsp (this get reflected in browser address bar!)
  • Server sends a HTTP response back with content of other.jsp.

You can track it with the web browser's builtin/addon developer toolset. Press F12 in Chrome/IE9/Firebug and check the "Network" section to see it.

Exactly the above is achieved by sendRedirect("other.jsp"). The RequestDispatcher#forward() doesn't send a redirect. Instead, it uses the content of the target page as HTTP response.

  • Client sends a HTTP request to some.jsp.
  • Server sends a HTTP response back with content of other.jsp.

However, as the original HTTP request was to some.jsp, the URL in browser address bar remains unchanged. Also, any request attributes set in the controller behind some.jsp will be available in other.jsp. This does not happen during a redirect because you're basically forcing the client to create a new HTTP request on other.jsp, hereby throwing away the original request on some.jsp including all of its attribtues.

The RequestDispatcher is extremely useful in the MVC paradigm and/or when you want to hide JSP's from direct access. You can put JSP's in the /WEB-INF folder and use a Servlet which controls, preprocesses and postprocesses the requests. The JSPs in the /WEB-INF folder are not directly accessible by URL, but the Servlet can access them using RequestDispatcher#forward().

You can for example have a JSP file in /WEB-INF/login.jsp and a LoginServlet which is mapped on an url-pattern of /login. When you invoke http://example.com/context/login, then the servlet's doGet() will be invoked. You can do any preprocessing stuff in there and finally forward the request like:

request.getRequestDispatcher("/WEB-INF/login.jsp").forward(request, response);

When you submit a form, you normally want to use POST:

<form action="login" method="post">

This way the servlet's doPost() will be invoked and you can do any postprocessing stuff in there (e.g. validation, business logic, login the user, etc).

If there are any errors, then you normally want to forward the request back to the same page and display the errors there next to the input fields and so on. You can use the RequestDispatcher for this.

If a POST is successful, you normally want to redirect the request, so that the request won't be resubmitted when the user refreshes the request (e.g. pressing F5 or navigating back in history).

User user = userDAO.find(username, password);
if (user != null) {
    request.getSession().setAttribute("user", user); // Login user.
    response.sendRedirect("home"); // Redirects to http://example.com/context/home after succesful login.
} else {
    request.setAttribute("error", "Unknown login, please try again."); // Set error.
    request.getRequestDispatcher("/WEB-INF/login.jsp").forward(request, response); // Forward to same page so that you can display error.
}

A redirect thus instructs the client to fire a new GET request on the given URL. Refreshing the request would then only refresh the redirected request and not the initial request. This will avoid "double submits" and confusion and bad user experiences. This is also called the POST-Redirect-GET pattern.

See also:

user_1578820

The RequestDispatcher interface allows you to do a server side forward/include whereas sendRedirect() does a client side redirect. In a client side redirect, the server will send back an HTTP status code of 302 (temporary redirect) which causes the web browser to issue a brand new HTTP GET request for the content at the redirected location. In contrast, when using the RequestDispatcher interface, the include/forward to the new resource is handled entirely on the server side.

user_1663390

The main important difference between the forward() and sendRedirect() method is that in case of forward(), redirect happens at server end and not visible to client, but in case of sendRedirect(), redirection happens at client end and it's visible to client.

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user_41206310

Either of these methods may be "better", i.e. more suitable, depending on what you want to do.

A server-side redirect is faster insofar as you get the data from a different page without making a round trip to the browser. But the URL seen in the browser is still the original address, so you're creating a little inconsistency there.

A client-side redirect is more versatile insofar as it can send you to a completely different server, or change the protocol (e.g. from HTTP to HTTPS), or both. And the browser is aware of the new URL. But it takes an extra back-and-forth between server and client.

user_1722110

Simply difference between Forward(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response) and sendRedirect(String url) is

forward():

  1. The forward() method is executed in the server side.
  2. The request is transfer to other resource within same server.
  3. It does not depend on the client’s request protocol since the forward () method is provided by the servlet container.
  4. The request is shared by the target resource.
  5. Only one call is consumed in this method.
  6. It can be used within server.
  7. We cannot see forwarded message, it is transparent.
  8. The forward() method is faster than sendRedirect() method.
  9. It is declared in RequestDispatcher interface.

sendRedirect():

  1. The sendRedirect() method is executed in the client side.
  2. The request is transfer to other resource to different server.
  3. The sendRedirect() method is provided under HTTP so it can be used only with HTTP clients.
  4. New request is created for the destination resource.
  5. Two request and response calls are consumed.
  6. It can be used within and outside the server.
  7. We can see redirected address, it is not transparent.
  8. The sendRedirect() method is slower because when new request is created old request object is lost.
  9. It is declared in HttpServletResponse.
user_42220030
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