Which code snippet prints the exception error message as part of the page output?

Question

Options

• A<%= exception.message %>
• B<c:out value="${requestScope['javax.servlet.error.exception']}"/>
• C<% exception.getMessage(); %>
• D<% System.out.println(e.getMessage()) %>

• A
  2% (1)
• B
  4% (2)
• C
  11% (5)
• D
  83% (38)

Explanation

Important note: The answer key appears to contain an error. Option D is technically incorrect for this question, and explaining it as correct would mislead exam takers. Here's the accurate breakdown:

System.out.println() (option D) writes to the server's standard output stream (console/log), not to the HTTP response sent to the browser. It also references an undefined variable e instead of the JSP implicit exception object, which would cause a compilation error.

The actual correct answer is B. The <c:out> JSTL tag writes its value directly to the page response output. requestScope['javax.servlet.error.exception'] is a valid standard servlet error attribute, so this snippet genuinely renders exception information on the page.

Why the other options fail:

• A - <%= exception.message %> uses invalid Java syntax; message is a private field, not a public property. It would need exception.getMessage() to compile, and exception is only available on JSP error pages (isErrorPage="true").
• C - <% exception.getMessage(); %> calls the method inside a scriptlet but discards the return value. Nothing is written to the response. To output it, you'd need out.print(exception.getMessage()).
• D - As noted above, System.out.println() targets the server console, not the page.

Memory tip: In JSP, only <%= ... %> (expression tag) and tag library output tags like <c:out> write directly to the page. Scriptlet code (<% ... %>) requires an explicit out.print() call to produce page output. If it looks like a method call with no destination, it's not going to the page.

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