Tive esse problema criando um novo projeto maven pelo eclipse. Aparentemente estava tudo certo, mas não inicializava o framework.
Acho que isso acontecia pelo fato do projeto não ser Dynamic Web.
A solução que encontrei:
1 - No eclipse, criar um novo "Dynamic Web Projetc".
2 - Clicar com o direito no projeto >> Configure -> Convert to Maven Project.
3 - Na janela de criação do POM:
- Group Id: br.com.casadocodigo.loja
- Artifact Id: casadocodigo
4 - pom.xml informar as dependências que o professor forneceu:
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
<version>4.1.0.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
<artifactId>tomcat-servlet-api</artifactId>
<version>7.0.30</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>
<artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>
<version>2.1</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.servlet.jsp.jstl</groupId>
<artifactId>jstl-api</artifactId>
<version>1.2</version>
<exclusions>
<exclusion>
<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
</exclusion>
</exclusions>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.glassfish.web</groupId>
<artifactId>jstl-impl</artifactId>
<version>1.2</version>
<exclusions>
<exclusion>
<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
</exclusion>
</exclusions>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
<version>1.6.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>jcl-over-slf4j</artifactId>
<version>1.6.1</version>
<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
<version>1.6.1</version>
<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>log4j</groupId>
<artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
<version>1.2.16</version>
<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
Implementar os demais arquivos da aula:
- AppWebConfiguration.java
- ServletSpringMVC.java
- HomeController.java
E startar o servidor.
OBS:
- JDK:1.6
- Tomcat v7.0
Fonte: http://www.ciceroednilson.com.br/configurando-um-projeto-java-com-spring-mvc-e-maven/