title: Print simple String in EL without JSTL
body: <p>I'm not sure if I can do this, but I'm trying to print a string with Expression Language only (no JSTL).  The string is going to often-times be null, and I want an empty string printed to HTML instead of the word "null".  This is what I'm trying (without success):</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;%
    myString = "";
    myString = someMethodThatMayReturnNull(); // returns string or null
  %&gt;
  &lt;b&gt;${myString}&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  &lt;b&gt;${ (empty myString) ? "myString-is-empty" : "myString-is-NOT-empty" }&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The reason I don't want to use JSTL is because I'm trying to make the minimum changes to a fairly good sized system.</p>