PageContext

A PageContext instance provides access to all the namespaces associated with a JSP page, provides access to several page attributes, as well as a layer above the implementation details. Implicit objects are added to the pageContext automatically.

session

Provides a way to identify a user across more than one page request or visit to a Web site and to store information about that user.

PageContext has a set of attributes that are different from the Session object.

The attributes set on PageContext are only available for a given page. The attributes are not available to other pages or servlets in the application.

Session attributes are created per each user's session. The session attributes are unique to a given session id. Session attributes are available to other pages and servlets in the application for a given session id.

Note:

• The PageContext is implicitly instantiated by the application server.
• The JSP page will always have access to the PageContext.
• Session would be expired after 30 minutes when idle or closed the browser.

Reference:

https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/jspapi/javax/servlet/jsp/PageContext.html

https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/servletapi/javax/servlet/http/HttpSession.html