diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/SpringServletContainerInitializer.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/SpringServletContainerInitializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5ea1ebfb1e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/SpringServletContainerInitializer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.web;
+
+import static org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils.instantiateClass;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
+import java.util.ServiceLoader;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.TreeSet;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletContainerInitializer;
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
+import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+import javax.servlet.annotation.HandlesTypes;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationAwareOrderComparator;
+
+/**
+ * Servlet 3.0 {@link ServletContainerInitializer} designed to support code-based
+ * configuration of the servlet container using Spring's {@link WebApplicationInitializer}
+ * SPI as opposed to (or possibly in combination with) the traditional
+ * {@code web.xml}-based approach.
+ *
+ * <h2>Mechanism of Operation</h2>
+ * This class will be loaded and instantiated and have its {@link #onStartup} method
+ * invoked by any Servlet 3.0-compliant container during container startup assuming that
+ * the {@code spring-web} module JAR is present on the classpath. This occurs through the
+ * JAR Services API {@link ServiceLoader#load(Class)} method detecting the
+ * {@code spring-web} module's {@code META-INF/services/javax.servlet.ServletContainerInitializer}
+ * service provider configuration file. See the
+ * <a href="http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/jar/jar.html#Service%20Provider">
+ * JAR Services API documentation</a> as well as section <em>8.2.4</em> of the Servlet 3.0
+ * Final Draft specification for complete details.
+ *
+ * <h3>when in combination with {@code web.xml}</h3>
+ * <p>If a web application does include a {@code WEB-INF/web.xml} file, it is important to
+ * understand that neither this nor any other {@code ServletContextInitializer} will be
+ * processed unless the {@code <web-app>} element's {@code version} attribute is >= "3.0"
+ * and the {@code xsi:schemaLocation} for "http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" is set to
+ * "http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd".
+ *
+ * <h2>Relationship to Spring's {@code WebApplicationInitializer}</h2>
+ * Spring's {@code WebApplicationInitializer} SPI consists of just one method:
+ * {@link WebApplicationInitializer#onStartup(ServletContext)}. The signature is intentionally
+ * quite similar to {@link ServletContainerInitializer#onStartup(Set, ServletContext)}:
+ * simply put, {@code SpringServletContainerInitializer} is responsible for instantiating
+ * and delegating the {@code ServletContext} to any user-defined
+ * {@code WebApplicationInitializer} implementations. It is then the responsibility of
+ * each {@code WebApplicationInitializer} to do the actual work of initializing the
+ * {@code ServletContext}. The exact process of delegation is described in detail in the
+ * {@link #onStartup} documentation below.
+ *
+ * <h2>General Notes</h2>
+ * In general, this class should be viewed as <em>supporting infrastructure</em> for
+ * the more important and user-facing {@code WebApplicationInitializer} SPI. Taking
+ * advantage of this container initializer is also completely <em>optional</em>: while
+ * it is true that this initializer will be loaded and invoked under all Servlet 3.0+
+ * runtimes, it remains the user's choice whether to make any
+ * {@code WebApplicationInitializer} implementations available on the classpath. If no
+ * {@code WebApplicationInitializer} types are detected, this container initializer will
+ * have no effect.
+ *
+ * <p>Note that use of this container initializer and of {@code WebApplicationInitializer}
+ * is not in any way "tied" to Spring MVC other than the fact that the types are shipped
+ * in the {@code spring-web} module JAR. Rather, they can be considered general-purpose
+ * in their ability to facilitate convenient code-based configuration of the
+ * {@code ServletContext}. Said another way, any servlet, listener, or filter may be
+ * registered within a {@code WebApplicationInitializer}, not just Spring MVC-specific
+ * components.
+ *
+ * <p>This class is not designed for nor intended to be extended. It should be considered
+ * an internal type, with {@code WebApplicationInitializer} being the public-facing SPI.
+ *
+ * <h2>See Also</h2>
+ * See {@link WebApplicationInitializer} Javadoc for examples and detailed usage
+ * recommendations.<p>
+ *
+ * @author Chris Beams
+ * @since 3.1
+ * @see #onStartup(Set, ServletContext)
+ * @see WebApplicationInitializer
+ */
+@HandlesTypes(WebApplicationInitializer.class)
+public class SpringServletContainerInitializer implements ServletContainerInitializer {
+
+	private static final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(SpringServletContainerInitializer.class);
+
+	/**
+	 * Delegate the {@code ServletContext} to any {@link WebApplicationInitializer}
+	 * implementations present on the application classpath.
+	 *
+	 * <p>Because this class declares @{@code HandlesTypes(WebApplicationInitializer.class)},
+	 * Servlet 3.0+ containers will automatically scan the classpath for implementations
+	 * of Spring's {@code WebApplicationInitializer} interface and provide the set of all
+	 * such types to the {@code webAppInitializerClasses} parameter of this method.
+	 *
+	 * <p>If no {@code WebApplicationInitializer} implementations are found on the
+	 * classpath, this method is effectively a no-op. An INFO-level log message will be
+	 * issued notifying the user that the {@code ServletContainerInitializer} has indeed
+	 * been invoked, but that no {@code WebApplicationInitializer} implementations were
+	 * found.
+	 *
+	 * <p>Assuming that one or more {@code WebApplicationInitializer} types are detected,
+	 * they will be instantiated (and <em>sorted</em> if the @{@link
+	 * org.springframework.core.annotation.Order Order} annotation is present or
+	 * the {@link org.springframework.core.Ordered Ordered} interface has been
+	 * implemented). Then the {@link WebApplicationInitializer#onStartup(ServletContext)}
+	 * method will be invoked on each instance, delegating the {@code ServletContext} such
+	 * that each instance may register and configure servlets such as Spring's
+	 * {@code DispatcherServlet}, listeners such as Spring's {@code ContextLoaderListener}
+	 * or any other Servlet API componentry such as filters.
+	 *
+	 * @param webAppInitializerClasses all implementations of
+	 * {@link WebApplicationInitializer} found on the application classpath.
+	 * @param servletContext the servlet context to be initialized
+	 * @see WebApplicationInitializer#onStartup(ServletContext)
+	 * @see AnnotationAwareOrderComparator
+	 */
+	public void onStartup(Set<Class<?>> webAppInitializerClasses,
+	                      ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {
+
+		Set<WebApplicationInitializer> initializers =
+			new TreeSet<WebApplicationInitializer>(new AnnotationAwareOrderComparator());
+
+		for (Class<?> waiClass : webAppInitializerClasses) {
+			if (Modifier.isAbstract(waiClass.getModifiers())) {
+				// the class is not instantiable (i.e. abstract or an interface) -> skip it
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			initializers.add(instantiateClass(waiClass, WebApplicationInitializer.class));
+		}
+
+		if (initializers.isEmpty()) {
+			logger.info("Detected no WebApplicationInitializer types on the classpath: exiting.");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		logger.info("Delegating ServletContext to the following " +
+				"WebApplicationInitializer instances: " + initializers);
+
+		for (WebApplicationInitializer initializer : initializers) {
+			initializer.onStartup(servletContext);
+		}
+
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/WebApplicationInitializer.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/WebApplicationInitializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2db7cde143f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/WebApplicationInitializer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,183 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.web;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
+import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+
+/**
+ * Interface to be implemented in Servlet 3.0+ environments in order to configure the
+ * {@link ServletContext} programmatically -- as opposed to (or possibly in conjunction
+ * with) the traditional {@code web.xml}-based approach.
+ *
+ * <p>Implementations of this SPI will be detected automatically by the
+ * {@link SpringServletContainerInitializer}, which itself is automatically bootstrapped
+ * by Servlet 3.0 container. See {@linkplain SpringServletContainerInitializer its Javadoc}
+ * for details on this bootstrapping mechanism.
+ *
+ * <h2>Example</h2>
+ * <h3>The traditional, XML-based approach</h3>
+ * Most Spring users building a web application will need to register Spring's {@code
+ * DispatcherServlet}. For reference, in WEB-INF/web.xml, this would typically be done as
+ * follows:
+ * <pre class="code">
+ * {@code
+ * <servlet>
+ *   <servlet-name>dispatcher</servlet-name>
+ *   <servlet-class>
+ *     org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet
+ *   </servlet-class>
+ *   <init-param>
+ *     <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
+ *     <param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/dispatcher-config.xml</param-value>
+ *   </init-param>
+ *   <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
+ * </servlet>
+ *
+ * <servlet-mapping>
+ *   <servlet-name>dispatcher</servlet-name>
+ *   <url-pattern>/main</url-pattern>
+ * </servlet-mapping>}</pre>
+ *
+ * <h3>The code-based approach with {@code WebApplicationInitializer}</h3>
+ * Here is the equivalent {@code DispatcherServlet} registration logic,
+ * {@code WebApplicationInitializer}-style:
+ * <pre class="code">
+ * public class MyWebAppInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
+ *
+ *    &#064;Override
+ *    public void onStartup(ServletContext container) {
+ *      XmlWebApplicationContext appContext = new XmlWebApplicationContext()
+ *      appContext.setConfigLocation("/WEB-INF/spring/dispatcher-config.xml");
+ *
+ *      ServletRegistration.Dynamic dispatcher =
+ *        container.addServlet("dispatcher", new DispatcherServlet(appContext));
+ *      dispatcher.setLoadOnStartup(1);
+ *      dispatcher.addMapping("/main");
+ *    }
+ *
+ * }</pre>
+ *
+ * As you can see, thanks to Servlet 3.0's new {@link ServletContext#addServlet} method
+ * we're actually registering an <em>instance</em> of the {@code DispatcherServlet}, and
+ * this means that the {@code DispatcherServlet} can now be treated like any other object
+ * -- receiving constructor injection of its application context in this case.
+ *
+ * <p>This style is both simpler and more concise. There is no concern for dealing with
+ * init-params, etc, just normal JavaBean-style properties and constructor arguments. You
+ * are free to create and work with your Spring application contexts as necessary before
+ * injecting them into the {@code DispatcherServlet}.
+ *
+ * <p>Most major Spring Web componentry has been updated to support this style of
+ * registration.  You'll find that {@code DispatcherServlet}, {@code FrameworkServlet},
+ * {@code ContextLoaderListener} and {@code DelegatingFilterProxy} all now support
+ * constructor arguments. Even if a component (e.g. non-Spring, other third party) has not
+ * been specifically updated for use within {@code WebApplicationInitializers}, they still
+ * may be used in any case. The Servlet 3.0 {@code ServletContext} API allows for setting
+ * init-params, context-params, etc programmatically.
+ *
+ * <h2>A 100% code-based approach to configuration</h2>
+ * In the example above, {@code WEB-INF/web.xml} was successfully replaced with code in
+ * the form of a {@code WebApplicationInitializer}, but the actual
+ * {@code dispatcher-config.xml} Spring configuration remained XML-based.
+ * {@code WebApplicationInitializer} is a perfect fit for use with Spring's code-based
+ * {@code @Configuration} classes. See @{@link
+ * org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration Configuration} Javadoc for
+ * complete details, but the following example demonstrates refactoring to use Spring's
+ * {@link org.springframework.web.context.support.AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext
+ * AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext} in lieu of {@code XmlWebApplicationContext}, and
+ * user-defined {@code @Configuration} classes {@code AppConfig} and
+ * {@code DispatcherConfig} instead of Spring XML files. This example also goes a bit
+ * beyond those above to demonstrate typical configuration of the 'root' application
+ * context and registration of the {@code ContextLoaderListener}:
+ * <pre class="code">
+ * public class MyWebAppInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
+ *
+ *    &#064;Override
+ *    public void onStartup(ServletContext container) {
+ *      // Create the 'root' Spring application context
+ *      AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext rootContext =
+ *        new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
+ *      rootContext.register(AppConfig.class);
+ *
+ *      // Manage the lifecycle of the root application context
+ *      container.addListener(new ContextLoaderListener(rootContext));
+ *
+ *      // Create the dispatcher servlet's Spring application context
+ *      AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext dispatcherContext =
+ *        new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
+ *      dispatcherContext.register(DispatcherConfig.class);
+ *
+ *      // Register and map the dispatcher servlet
+ *      ServletRegistration.Dynamic dispatcher =
+ *        container.addServlet("dispatcher", new DispatcherServlet(dispatcherContext));
+ *      dispatcher.setLoadOnStartup(1);
+ *      dispatcher.addMapping("/main");
+ *    }
+ *
+ * }</pre>
+ *
+ * Remember that {@code WebApplicationInitializer} implementations are <em>detected
+ * automatically</em> -- so you are free to package them within your application as you
+ * see fit.
+ *
+ * <h2>Ordering {@code WebApplicationInitializer} execution</h2>
+ * {@code WebApplicationInitializer} implementations may optionally be annotated at the
+ * class level with Spring's @{@link org.springframework.core.annotation.Order Order}
+ * annotation or may implement Spring's {@link org.springframework.core.Ordered Ordered}
+ * interface. If so, the initializers will be ordered prior to invocation. This provides
+ * a mechanism for users to ensure the order in which servlet container initialization
+ * occurs. Use of this feature is expected to be rare, as typical applications will likely
+ * centralize all container initialization within a single {@code WebApplicationInitializer}.
+ *
+ * <h2>Caveats</h2>
+ *
+ * <h3>web.xml versioning</h3>
+ * <p>{@code WEB-INF/web.xml} and {@code WebApplicationInitializer} use are not mutually
+ * exclusive; for example, web.xml can register one servlet, and a {@code
+ * WebApplicationInitializer} can register another. An initializer can even
+ * <em>modify</em> registrations performed in {@code web.xml} through the
+ * {@link ServletContext#getServletRegistration(String)} method and its similiars.
+ * <strong>However, if {@code WEB-INF/web.xml} is present in the application, its
+ * {@code version} attribute must be set to "3.0" or greater, otherwise {@code
+ * ServletContainerInitializer} bootstrapping will be ignored by the servlet container.
+ * </strong>
+ *
+ * <h3>Mapping to '/' under Tomcat</h3>
+ * <p>Apache Tomcat maps its internal {@code DefaultServlet} to "/", and on Tomcat versions
+ * &lt;= 7.0.14, this servlet mapping <em>cannot be overridden programmatically</em>. This
+ * is a <a href="https://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=51278">known issue</a>
+ * and scheduled to be addressed in the next revision of Tomcat. Overriding the "/"
+ * servlet mapping has been tested successfully on GlassFish 3.1.<p>
+ *
+ * @author Chris Beams
+ * @since 3.1
+ * @see SpringServletContainerInitializer
+ */
+public interface WebApplicationInitializer {
+
+	/**
+	 * Configure the given {@link ServletContext} with any servlets, filters, listeners
+	 * context-params and attributes necessary for initializing this web application. See
+	 * examples {@linkplain WebApplicationInitializer above}.
+	 * @param servletContext the {@code ServletContext} to initialize
+	 * @throws ServletException if any call against the given {@code ServletContext}
+	 * throws a {@code ServletException}
+	 */
+	void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException;
+
+}
diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/context/support/AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext.java b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/context/support/AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext.java
index 2b0a61d5150..c8ecaafbd46 100644
--- a/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/context/support/AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext.java
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/context/support/AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext.java
@@ -37,14 +37,19 @@ import org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader;
  * as for classpath scanning (specifying base packages as config location).
  *
  * <p>This is essentially the equivalent of
- * {@link org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext}
- * for a web environment.
+ * {@link org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext
+ * AnnotationConfigApplicationContext} for a web environment.
  *
  * <p>To make use of this application context, the
  * {@linkplain ContextLoader#CONTEXT_CLASS_PARAM "contextClass"} context-param for
  * ContextLoader and/or "contextClass" init-param for FrameworkServlet must be set to
  * the fully-qualified name of this class.
  *
+ * <p>As of Spring 3.1, this class may also be directly instantiated and injected into
+ * Spring's {@code DispatcherServlet} or {@code ContextLoaderListener} when using the
+ * new {@link org.springframework.web.WebApplicationInitializer WebApplicationInitializer}
+ * code-based alternative to {@code web.xml}. See its Javadoc for details and usage examples.
+ *
  * <p>Unlike {@link XmlWebApplicationContext}, no default configuration class locations
  * are assumed. Rather, it is a requirement to set the
  * {@linkplain ContextLoader#CONFIG_LOCATION_PARAM "contextConfigLocation"}
diff --git a/org.springframework.web/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/javax.servlet.ServletContainerInitializer b/org.springframework.web/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/javax.servlet.ServletContainerInitializer
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b0ab3c3f006
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.springframework.web/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/javax.servlet.ServletContainerInitializer
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+org.springframework.web.SpringServletContainerInitializer
\ No newline at end of file