ClassCastException: org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet cannot be cast to javax.servlet.Servlet - spring

Question

I have created a new Spring MVC project using maven-eclipse and the following error is thrown:
(I tried some solutions from the stackoverflow which is not working in my case. Some problem with the pom.xml which I could not find. I added provided scope for the servlet-api and tried which was not working either.)
SEVERE: Servlet /Remindem threw load() exception
java.lang.ClassCastException:
org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet cannot be cast to javax.servlet.Servlet
My pom.xml
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
<version>2.5</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>
<artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>
<version>2.1</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
<version>1.2</version>
</dependency>
My web.xml
contextConfigLocation
/WEB-INF/classes/config/spring/*-context.xml
<!-- Creates the Spring Container shared by all Servlets and Filters -->
<listener>
<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener>
<!-- Processes application requests -->
<servlet>
<servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
<init-param>
<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
<param-value>
/WEB-INF/classes/config/spring/servlet_context.xml
</param-value>
</init-param>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

Answer 1

Try to change the config as it follows.
<init-param>
<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
<param-value>
/WEB-INF/classes/config/spring/servlet_context.xml
</param-value>
</init-param>
<listener>
<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener>
<!-- Processes application requests -->
<servlet>
<servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
DispatcherServlet does not need init-param by default use
XXXX-servlet.xml where XXXX is the name of the servlet
Be sure these dependencies are in your pom.xml
<!-- Spring dependencies section -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
<version>${spring.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
<version>${spring.version}</version>
</dependency>

Answer 2

Remove the servlet-api form your pom.xml, as it will be available in server.
Here is my pom.xml:
http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
4.0.0
com.mkyong
CounterWebApp
war
1.0-SNAPSHOT
CounterWebApp Maven Webapp
http://maven.apache.org
1.8
3.0.5.RELEASE</spring.version> -->
4.1.1.RELEASE
1.2
4.11
1.0.13
1.7.5
<dependencies>
<!-- Unit Test -->
<dependency>
<groupId>junit</groupId>
<artifactId>junit</artifactId>
<version>${junit.version}</version>
</dependency>
<!-- Spring Core -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
<version>${spring.version}</version>
<exclusions>
<exclusion>
<groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
</exclusion>
</exclusions>
</dependency>
<!--Binding for commons logging over slf4j-->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>jcl-over-slf4j</artifactId>
<version>${jcl-over-slf4j.version}</version>
<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
<artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
<version>${logback.version}</version>
</dependency>
<!-- Spring dependencies section -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
<version>${spring.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
<version>${spring.version}</version>
</dependency>
<!-- jstl -->
<dependency>
<groupId>jstl</groupId>
<artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
<version>${jstl.version}</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
<build>
<finalName>CounterWebApp</finalName>
<plugins>
<!-- Eclipse project -->
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-eclipse-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.9</version>
<configuration>
<!-- Always download and attach dependencies source code -->
<downloadSources>true</downloadSources>
<downloadJavadocs>false</downloadJavadocs>
<!-- Avoid type mvn eclipse:eclipse -Dwtpversion=2.0 -->
<wtpversion>2.0</wtpversion>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<!--Set JDK Compiler Level -->
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<!-- <version>2.3.2</version> 3.3 -->
<version>3.5.1</version>
<configuration>
<source>${jdk.version}</source>
<target>${jdk.version}</target>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<!-- For Maven Tomcat Plugin -->
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.tomcat.maven</groupId>
<artifactId>tomcat7-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
<configuration>
<path>/CounterWebApp</path>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
Run the tomcat from cmd line:
mvn tomcat:run
Note: you should stop the tomcat server running in the eclipse.
This one worked for me.

Answer 3

<servlet>
<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
<servlet-name>first</servlet-name>
<init-param>
<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
<param-value>/WEB-INF/first-servlet.xml</param-value>
</init-param>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>first</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>