先看tomcat报错信息：
SEVERE: A child container failed during start
java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/XXXXXXXXXX]]at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerGet(FutureTask.java:252)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:111)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:800)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:334)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:166)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1110)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:603)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/XXXXXXXXXX]]
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
... 7 more
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: FilterConfig
at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredMethods(Class.java:2442)
at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods(Class.java:1808)
at org.apache.catalina.util.Introspection.getDeclaredMethods(Introspection.java:127)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadMethodsAnnotation(WebAnnotationSet.java:281)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationFilterAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:113)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:66)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.applicationAnnotationsConfig(ContextConfig.java:405)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:881)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:376)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:119)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5322)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 7 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: FilterConfig
at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1702)
at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1547)
... 21 more
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase startInternal
SEVERE: A child container failed during start
java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]]
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerGet(FutureTask.java:252)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:111)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:302)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:443)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:732)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:691)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:322)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:456)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]]
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:334)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:166)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1110)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:603)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1131)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:800)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 7 more
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
SEVERE: The required Server component failed to start so Tomcat is unable to start.
org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardServer[8005]]
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:691)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:322)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:456)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardService[Catalina]]
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:732)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 7 more
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina]]
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:443)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 9 more
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1131)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:302)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 11 more
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol pause
INFO: Pausing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol pause
INFO: Pausing ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService stopInternal
INFO: Stopping service Catalina
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol destroy
INFO: Destroying ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
十二月 20, 2013 8:38:48 上午 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol destroy
INFO: Destroying ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
先说一下当时的情况吧，我的eclipse里有2个web项目：
项目1：Demo - 这个项目是从别处导入进eclipse的。
项目2：Demo_Worked - 这个是我自己在eclipse里创建的web项目。
项目2能正常启动，而从别处导入的项目启动时却报上述错误。
百度后有高人回答如下：
FilterConfig这个类没找到，
少了jar包
这个是一个接口，
在servlet-api包里， ------参考：http://bbs.csdn.net/topics/390270444
然后自己无意间发现项目1和项目2有细微的差别：（注：eclipse的package explorer视图）
从别处导入的项目里没有tomcat运行环境！
而tomcat运行环境里有servlet-api,jar
再看对比2个项目的属性：
Demo--
Demo_Worked--
启动报错的项目属性的Targeted Runtimes选项卡里没有勾选tomcat运行环境！！
知道了报错原因，只需要把报错项目Demo属性里的tomcat环境勾选上即可。
再次启动Demo项目，一切正常！
事后再想一下，这次纠结了这么久可能原因就是因为别人的web项目的server环境和你的不一致或者tomcat版本不一致之类。然后你把别人的项目导过来之后找不到server环境导致报错。