OGNL stands for Object-Graph Navigation Language; it is an expression language for getting and setting properties of Java objects. You use the same expression for both getting and setting the value of a property.

The ognl.Ognl class contains convenience methods for evaluating OGNL expressions. You can do this in two stages, parsing an expression into an internal form and then using that internal form to either set or get the value of a property; or you can do it in a single stage, and get or set a property using the String form of the expression directly.

OGNL is pronounced as a word, like the last syllables of a drunken pronunciation of "orthogonal."