一、
因为直接使用了SpringMVC，所以之前一直不明白xxx-servlet.xml和applicationContext.xml是如何区别的，其实如果直接使用SpringMVC是可以不添加applicationContext.xml文件的。
使用applicationContext.xml文件时是需要在web.xml中添加listener的：
<listener>
<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener>
而这个一般是采用非spring mvc架构，如使用struts之类而又想引入spring才添加的，这个是用来加载Application Context。
如果直接采用SpringMVC，只需要把所有相关配置放到xxx-servlet.xml中就OK了。
二、
Spring lets you define multiple contexts in a parent-child hierarchy.
The applicationContext.xml defines the beans for the "root webapp context", i.e. the context associated with the webapp.
The spring-servlet.xml (or whatever else you call it) defines the beans for one servlet's app context. There can be many of these in a webapp, one per Spring servlet (e.g. spring1-servlet.xml for servlet spring1, spring2-servlet.xml for servlet spring2).
Beans in spring-servlet.xml can reference beans in applicationContext.xml, but not vice versa.
All Spring MVC controllers must go in the spring-servlet.xml context.
In most simple cases, the applicationContext.xml context is unnecessary. It is generally used to contain beans that are shared between all servlets in a webapp. If you only have one servlet, then there's not really much point, unless you have a specific use for it.