Difference between forward and sendRedirect

forward

Control can be forward to resources available within the server from where the call is made. 

This transfer of control is done by the container internally and browser / client is not involved. This is the major difference between forward and sendRedirect. When the
forward is done, the original request and response objects are transfered along with
additional parameters if needed.

Redirect

Control can be redirect to resources to different servers or domains. This transfer of
control task is delegated to the browser by the container. That is, the redirect sends a
header back to the browser / client. This header contains the resource url to be redirected by the browser. Then the browser initiates a new request to the given url.


Since it is a new request, the old request and response object is lost.
For example, sendRedirect can transfer control from http://javapapers.com to
http://anydomain.com but forward cannot do this.
‘session’ is not lost in both forward and redirect.

To feel the difference between forward and sendRedirect visually see the address bar of your browser,
in forward, you will not see the forwarded address (since the browser is not involved)

in redirect, you can see the redirected address.