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Java 11 HTTP Client API

Java 11 added a new module java.net.http and a package java.net.http to define the HTTP Client and WebSocket APIs.

This package contains several classes and interfaces to provide high-level client interfaces to HTTP and low-level client interfaces to WebSocket.

We can use these classes and interface to sent synchronous or asynchronous requests.

List of Interfaces

The following are the interfaces of the java.net.http package and can be used to handle client requests and responses.

Interface

Description

HttpClient.Builder

A builder of HTTP Clients.

HttpRequest.BodyPublisher

A BodyPublisher converts high-level Java objects into a flow of byte buffers suitable for sending as a request body.

HttpRequest.Builder

A builder of HTTP requests.

HttpResponse<T>

An HTTP response.

HttpResponse.BodyHandler<T>

A handler for response bodies.

HttpResponse.BodySubscriber<T>

A BodySubscriber consumes response body bytes and converts them into a higher-level Java type.

HttpResponse.PushPromiseHandler<T>

A handler for push promises.

HttpResponse.ResponseInfo

Initial response information supplied to a BodyHandler when a response is initially received and before the body is processed.

WebSocket

A WebSocket Client.

WebSocket.Builder

A builder of WebSocket Clients.

WebSocket.Listener

The receiving interface of WebSocket.

List of Classes

The following are the classes under the java.net.http package and used to create HttpClient and connect to the host.

Class

Description

HttpClient

An HTTP Client.

HttpHeaders

A read-only view of a set of HTTP headers.

HttpRequest

An HTTP request.

HttpRequest.BodyPublishers

Implementations of BodyPublisher that implement various useful publishers, such as publishing the request body from a String, or from a file.

HttpResponse.BodyHandlers

Implementations of BodyHandler that implement various useful handlers, such as handling the response body as a String, or streaming the response body to a file.

HttpResponse.BodySubscribers

Implementations of BodySubscriber that implement various useful subscribers, such as converting the response body bytes into a String, or streaming the bytes to a file.

Time for an Example:

In this example, we are sending a get request to "studytonight.com" by using HttpClient.

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpClient.Redirect;
import java.net.http.HttpClient.Version;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse.BodyHandlers;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Main {
	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
		HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
				.GET()
				.uri(URI.create("https://www.studytonight.com"))
				.build();
		HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder()
				.version(Version.HTTP_2)
				.followRedirects(Redirect.NORMAL)
				.connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(20))
				.build();
		HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, BodyHandlers.ofString());
		System.out.println(response.statusCode());

	}
}


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About the author:
I am a Java developer by profession and Java content creator by passion. I have over 5 years of experience in Java development and content writing. I like writing about Java, related frameworks, Spring, Springboot, etc.