When a request is mapped to a JSP page for the first time, it translates the JSP page into a servlet class and compiles the class. It is this servlet that services the client requests.
A JSP page has seven phases in its lifecycle, as listed below in the sequence of occurrence:
Translation
Compilation
Loading the class
Instantiating the class
jspInit() invocation
_jspService() invocation
jspDestroy() invocation