[Daniel]

Code:

<%! ... %> i

s referred to as a declaration block.

it can also be written in xml syntax...for example

Code:

<jsp:declaration>
String user_name = new String();
</jsp:declaration

the following is a comment

Code:

<%-- comment --%>

the following is an expression

Code:

<%= expression %>

Say for example, you have a string and it contains a user's name "John Smith" and you want to print it...you can write

Code:

<%= name %> instead or typing <% out.println( name ); %>

Greetings
Daniel