Spring java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParserConfiguration

Question

I get this error when opening controller url in browser. I read that this can be dependencies issue but every springframework jar has the same 4.2.0 version except cql which isn't used right now.

Full trace from server :

HTTP Status 500 - Servlet.init() for servlet dispatcher threw exception

type Exception report

message Servlet.init() for servlet dispatcher threw exception

description The server encountered an internal error that prevented it from fulfilling this request.

exception

javax.servlet.ServletException: Servlet.init() for servlet dispatcher threw exception
    org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:505)
    org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:103)
    org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve.invoke(AccessLogValve.java:950)
    org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:423)
    org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1079)
    org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:620)
    org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(JIoEndpoint.java:316)
    java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
    java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
    org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
    java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

root cause

java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParserConfiguration.<init>(Lorg/springframework/expression/spel/SpelCompilerMode;Ljava/lang/ClassLoader;)V
    org.springframework.context.expression.StandardBeanExpressionResolver.<init>(StandardBeanExpressionResolver.java:98)
    org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.prepareBeanFactory(AbstractApplicationContext.java:620)
    org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:512)
    org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.configureAndRefreshWebApplicationContext(FrameworkServlet.java:667)
    org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.createWebApplicationContext(FrameworkServlet.java:633)
    org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.createWebApplicationContext(FrameworkServlet.java:681)
    org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.initWebApplicationContext(FrameworkServlet.java:552)
    org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.initServletBean(FrameworkServlet.java:493)
    org.springframework.web.servlet.HttpServletBean.init(HttpServletBean.java:136)
    javax.servlet.GenericServlet.init(GenericServlet.java:158)
    org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:505)
    org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:103)
    org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve.invoke(AccessLogValve.java:950)
    org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:423)
    org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1079)
    org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:620)
    org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(JIoEndpoint.java:316)
    java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
    java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
    org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
    java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

note The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the Apache Tomcat/7.0.61 logs.
Apache Tomcat/7.0.61

pom.xml

<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/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
  <groupId>regularmikey</groupId>
  <artifactId>wymysl</artifactId>
  <packaging>war</packaging>
  <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
  <name>wymysl Maven Webapp</name>
  <url>http://maven.apache.org</url>
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>junit</groupId>
      <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
      <version>3.8.1</version>
      <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.0.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.0.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>javax.persistence</groupId>
        <artifactId>persistence-api</artifactId>
        <version>1.0.2</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.data</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-cql</artifactId>
        <version>1.2.2.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.0.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.0.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
  <build>
    <finalName>wymysl</finalName>
  </build>
</project>

Solution

From my above comment (suggesting that you temporarily remove the cql.jar to see if the same error message still persisted) it's been established that the dependency incompatibility is indeed deriving from the cql.jar.

When using

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.data</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-cql</artifactId>
    <version>1.2.2.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>

you also need to add the following 'compile dependencies' to your project/pom.xml:

your current Spring dependency versions are compatible but as you can see you are missing other required dependencies such as

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-expression</artifactId>
    <version>4.2.0.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>

(refer to the Maven Repository link here for the required dependencies).