title: "<Parameter>" versus "<Environment>" entries in a Tomcat Context
body: <p>On <a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-9.0-doc/config/context.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>The Context Container</em></a> page of the Tomcat documentation, I see two sections:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-9.0-doc/config/context.html#Context_Parameters" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Context Parameters</em></a></li>
  <li><a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-9.0-doc/config/context.html#Environment_Entries" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Environment Entries</em></a></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>The standard names for such elements is <code>&lt;context-param&gt;</code> and <code>&lt;env-entry&gt;</code>, while the Tomcat-specific names are <code>&lt;Parameter&gt;</code> and <code>&lt;Environment&gt;</code>. </p>
  
  <p>Both <em>Context Parameters</em> and <em>Environment Entries</em> appear to have the same simple job of making same value available to the servlets running in that context. For example, setting a flag to communicate some condition.</p>
  
  <p>➥ What is the difference between <em>Context Parameters</em> and <em>Environment Entries</em>?</p>
  
  <p>➥ Why would I choose to use one instead of the other?</p>