An EL variable can be set to one of several scopes:
pageScope
constrains access to the current JSP.requestScope
constrains access to the current request. The attribute is not accessible to other requests, even if they originate from the same user session.sessionScope
enables access to the user session. The attribute persists for the duration of that session.applicationScope
enables access to all application resources and users. The state of the attribute is the same for all users of the application.
The default scope is pageScope
, which is used when the attribute declaration omits scope specification. You should specify the narrowest scope possible, in order to minimize the chance that two attributes with the same name have overlapping scopes.