NoClassDefFoundError from tomcat. is there something wrong with my pom?

Question

i'm currently learning spring ioc/struts2, and i keep getting a NoClassDefFoundError. the correct jars are in my pom file, so i am befuddled. following this advice, i added the problematic jar to my bootstrap entries, and it got rid of that particular NoClassDefFoundError, but i was met with another one.

i keep adding jars to my bootstrap entries, and that seems to fix each problem that comes up, but i want to make sure i'm actually solving my problem and not just putting a bandaid on it.

here are the current bootstrap entries:

below are my pom and my most recent stacktrace.

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>final-project1.3.1</groupId>
    <artifactId>final-project1.3.1</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>final-project1.3.1</name>
    <description>final-project1.3.1</description>
    <dependencies>
        <!-- hibernate -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>
            <version>4.3.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>antlr</groupId>
            <artifactId>antlr</artifactId>
            <version>2.7.7</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>dom4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>dom4j</artifactId>
            <version>1.6.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate.common</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-commons-annotations</artifactId>
            <version>4.0.4.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>log4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
            <version>1.2.17</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate.javax.persistence</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-jpa-2.1-api</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.javassist</groupId>
            <artifactId>javassist</artifactId>
            <version>3.18.1-GA</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>4.11</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
            <artifactId>hamcrest-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jboss.logging</groupId>
            <artifactId>jboss-logging</artifactId>
            <version>3.1.4.GA</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
            <version>1.7.5</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jboss.logmanager</groupId>
            <artifactId>jboss-logmanager</artifactId>
            <version>1.5.1.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-entitymanager</artifactId>
            <version>4.3.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jboss.logging</groupId>
            <artifactId>jboss-logging-annotations</artifactId>
            <version>1.2.0.Beta1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jboss.spec.javax.transaction</groupId>
            <artifactId>jboss-transaction-api_1.2_spec</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jboss</groupId>
            <artifactId>jandex</artifactId>
            <version>1.1.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- end hibernate -->
        <!-- start spring -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-expression</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-test</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- end spring -->

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.struts</groupId>
            <artifactId>struts2-core</artifactId>
            <version>2.3.14.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.struts</groupId>
            <artifactId>struts2-junit-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.3.14.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.struts</groupId>
            <artifactId>struts2-spring-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.3.14.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.struts</groupId>
            <artifactId>struts2-tiles-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.3.14.3</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
            <artifactId>tiles-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.6</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
            <artifactId>tiles-core</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.6</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
            <artifactId>tiles-jsp</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.6</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- start spring -->
        <!-- struts -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-beanutils</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-beanutils</artifactId>
            <version>1.8.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-chain</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-chain</artifactId>
            <version>1.2</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-codec</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-codec</artifactId>
            <version>1.8</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-collections</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-collections</artifactId>
            <version>3.2.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-dbcp</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-dbcp</artifactId>
            <version>1.4</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-digester</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-digester</artifactId>
            <version>2.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-el</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-el</artifactId>
            <version>1.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-fileupload</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-fileupload</artifactId>
            <version>1.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
            <version>2.4</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
            <version>3.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
            <version>1.1.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-logging-api</artifactId>
            <version>1.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-pool</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-pool</artifactId>
            <version>1.6</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-validator</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-validator</artifactId>
            <version>1.4.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.freemarker</groupId>
            <artifactId>freemarker</artifactId>
            <version>2.3.19</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>jstl</groupId>
            <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
            <version>1.2</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.googlecode.json-simple</groupId>
            <artifactId>json-simple</artifactId>
            <version>1.1.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>ognl</groupId>
            <artifactId>ognl</artifactId>
            <version>3.0.6</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>oro</groupId>
            <artifactId>oro</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.8</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- end struts -->
<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId>
    <version>3.1.0</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/java</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.7</source>
                    <target>1.7</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.3</version>
                <configuration>
                    <warSourceDirectory>WebContent</warSourceDirectory>
                    <failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

and the stack trace:

 Jan 12, 2014 6:23:09 PM org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener init
INFO: The APR based Apache Tomcat Native library which allows optimal performance in production environments was not found on the java.library.path: /Users/carriecoxwell/Library/Java/Extensions:/Library/Java/Extensions:/Network/Library/Java/Extensions:/System/Library/Java/Extensions:/usr/lib/java:.
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:09 PM org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.SetPropertiesRule begin
WARNING: [SetPropertiesRule]{Server/Service/Engine/Host/Context} Setting property 'source' to 'org.eclipse.jst.jee.server:final-project1.3.1' did not find a matching property.
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:10 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:10 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:10 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO: Initialization processed in 1304 ms
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:10 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService startInternal
INFO: Starting service Catalina
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:10 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine startInternal
INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/7.0.40
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:10 PM org.apache.catalina.util.SessionIdGenerator createSecureRandom
INFO: Creation of SecureRandom instance for session ID generation using [SHA1PRNG] took [300] milliseconds.
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext listenerStart
SEVERE: Error configuring application listener of class org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/beans/factory/ListableBeanFactory
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructors0(Native Method)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredConstructors(Class.java:2493)
    at java.lang.Class.getConstructor0(Class.java:2803)
    at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:345)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.DefaultInstanceManager.newInstance(DefaultInstanceManager.java:138)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.listenerStart(StandardContext.java:4823)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5381)
    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.run(FutureTask.java:262)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:744)

Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext listenerStart
SEVERE: Skipped installing application listeners due to previous error(s)
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext startInternal
SEVERE: Error listenerStart
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext startInternal
SEVERE: Context [/final-project1.3.1] startup failed due to previous errors
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 12, 2014 6:23:11 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
INFO: Server startup in 1109 ms

thanks in advance.

Answer 1

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError means the runtime version of the class in the classpath is not the same as that at compile time.

Your stacktrace does not have the ClassNotFoundError - so your problem could be multiple versions of the class being found when the server is deploying. ListableBeanFactory is part of spring-beans.jar

Can you search for how many versions of the spring-beans.jar are found in the run time server environment i.e. within Tomcat as part of the boorstrap you added and also within your own webapp libraries under WEB-INF?
May be there are multiples or the versions are clashing with each other.

Also looks like you're running Tomcat within your IDE in which case you'll have to search in the right location.

Answer 2

<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
<version>3.2.3.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>

you seems to be missing spring-beans from this question of stackoverflow.