If you look at the JarFile API you’ll see that it’s a subclass of the ZipFile class. The jar-specific classes mostly just add jar-specific functionality, like direct support for manifest file attributes and so on. It’s OOP “in action”; since jar files are zip files, the jar classes can use zip functionality and provide additional utility.
From Java Tips: Difference between ear jar and war files: These files are simply zipped files using the java jar tool. These files are created for different purposes. Here is the description of these files: .jar files: The .jar files contain libraries, resources and accessories files like property files. .war files: The war file contains … Read more
It would be helpful if you can provide a code snippet of your maven-war-plugin. Looks like the web.xml is at right place, still you can try and give the location explicitly
The Servlet 2.4 specification says this about WEB-INF (page 70): A special directory exists within the application hierarchy named WEB-INF. This directory contains all things related to the application that aren’t in the document root of the application. The WEB-INF node is not part of the public document tree of the application. No file contained in the WEB-INF directory may be served directly … Read more