The reason why jsps are working that way is because everytime a jsp page is invoked, its checked if the compiled version of the jsp is older than the jsp source and if so, it recompiles. i believe there is a flag to turn it off.
As far as EARs are concerned, since they are a complete package, touching application.xml is the way to redeploy the package. You can find out what the Watched file is for redeployment by going to jmx-console/maindeployer/listDeployments and finding your ear archive and checking what the watchURL is.