title: JSP set a variable with GET vars
body: <p>I know this is a simple syntax thing, but I can't figure it out.</p>
  
  <pre><code>/* url = index.jsp?topic=whatever */
  Path &lt;%= request.getParameter('topic') %&gt; &lt;!-- works --&gt;
  &lt;c:set var="myVar" value="${ request.getParameter('topic') }" /&gt;
  &lt;c:out value="${myVar}" /&gt; &lt;!-- doesn't print out onto my web page --&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>All I want to do is set <code>myVar</code> with the GET parameter 'topic'. How can I do it ?</p>