Dear lord! Why is it so hard to get this to work! Anyone know if its even possible to run lambda expression on JSP? I made sure everything is running on Java JDK 8. BUT IT DOESN'T WORKKKKK. I keep getting "Lambda expressions are allowed only at source level 1.8 or above"

The JSPs are not compiled against the JDK you use to run the webapplication.

The compilation details depends on the application server itself (for example Tomcat 7 use Jasper 2 and the JDT compiler, the same used in Eclipse)

However my suggestion is: don't use java code on a jsp (by using scriptlet), because the are a real mess. Move all your java logic on a controller class (if you're using an MVC framework) and use the JSP only as a view.

@snakebyte I totally feel so stupid. I spent 12 hours trying to get it to work and using lambda expression on class instead of jsp didn't even occur to me.. Thanks man! I can sleep soundly tonight at least.