This article shows you how to use the new Java 11 HttpClient APIs to send HTTP GET/POST requests, and some frequent used examples.
HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_2) .followRedirects(HttpClient.Redirect.NORMAL) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(20)) .proxy(ProxySelector.of(new InetSocketAddress("proxy.yourcompany.com", 80))) .authenticator(Authenticator.getDefault()) .build();
1. Synchronous Example
This example sends a GET
request to https://httpbin.org/get
, and print out the response header, status code, and body.
HttpClientSynchronous.java
package com.favtuts.http; import java.io.IOException; import java.net.URI; import java.net.http.HttpClient; import java.net.http.HttpHeaders; import java.net.http.HttpRequest; import java.net.http.HttpResponse; import java.time.Duration; public class HttpClientSynchronous { private static final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) .build(); public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException { HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder() .GET() .uri(URI.create("https://httpbin.org/get")) .setHeader("User-Agent", "Java 11 HttpClient Bot") // add request header .build(); HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()); // print response headers HttpHeaders headers = response.headers(); headers.map().forEach((k, v) -> System.out.println(k + ":" + v)); // print status code System.out.println(response.statusCode()); // print response body System.out.println(response.body()); } }
Output
access-control-allow-credentials:[true]
access-control-allow-origin:[*]
connection:[keep-alive]
content-length:[271]
content-type:[application/json]
date:[Tue, 10 May 2022 09:46:13 GMT]
server:[gunicorn/19.9.0]
200
{
"args": {},
"headers": {
"Content-Length": "0",
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-627a3465-59aa4d452eda31397a009a77"
},
"origin": "14.162.33.98",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/get"
}
2. Asynchronous Example
2.1 HttpClient.sendAsync()
to send a GET
request asynchronous, it will return a CompletableFuture
HttpClientAsynchronous.java
package com.favtuts.http; import java.net.URI; import java.net.http.HttpClient; import java.net.http.HttpRequest; import java.net.http.HttpResponse; import java.time.Duration; import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture; import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit; public class HttpClientAsynchronous { private static final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_2) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) .build(); public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder() .GET() .uri(URI.create("https://httpbin.org/get")) .setHeader("User-Agent", "Java 11 HttpClient Bot") .build(); CompletableFuture<HttpResponse<String>> response = httpClient.sendAsync(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()); String result = response.thenApply(HttpResponse::body).get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS); System.out.println(result); } }
Output
{
"args": {},
"headers": {
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-5ec0fb51-2c5dcf98167c6418bd555548"
},
"origin": "124.82.107.103",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/get"
}
3. Custom Executor + Concurrent Requests
3.1 Add a custom executor.
private final ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(5); private final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .executor(executorService) .build();
3.2 Send multiple concurrent requests asynchronously.
HttpClientCustomExecutor.java
package com.favtuts.http; import java.net.URI; import java.net.http.HttpClient; import java.net.http.HttpRequest; import java.net.http.HttpResponse; import java.time.Duration; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.List; import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture; import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService; import java.util.concurrent.Executors; import java.util.stream.Collectors; public class HttpClientCustomExecutor { // custom executor private static final ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(5); private static final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .executor(executorService) .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_2) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) .build(); public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { List<URI> targets = Arrays.asList( new URI("https://httpbin.org/get?name=favtuts1"), new URI("https://httpbin.org/get?name=favtuts2"), new URI("https://httpbin.org/get?name=favtuts3") ); List<CompletableFuture<String>> result = targets.stream() .map(url -> httpClient.sendAsync( HttpRequest.newBuilder(url) .GET() .setHeader("User-Agent", "Java 11 HttpClient Bot") .build() , HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()) .thenApply(response -> response.body()) ) .collect(Collectors.toList()); for (CompletableFuture<String> future : result) { System.out.println(future.get()); } } }
Output
{
"args": {
"name": "favtuts1"
},
"headers": {
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-627a753c-14ae27021dbdabc23f2f6c4a"
},
"origin": "14.162.33.98",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/get?name=favtuts1"
}
{
"args": {
"name": "favtuts2"
},
"headers": {
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-627a753c-2ce53d22544b7da802f368d0"
},
"origin": "14.162.33.98",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/get?name=favtuts2"
}
{
"args": {
"name": "favtuts3"
},
"headers": {
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-627a753c-4d63aa946ec2103234231fb7"
},
"origin": "14.162.33.98",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/get?name=favtuts3"
}
4. POST Form Parameters
4.1 Java 11 HttpClient
didn’t provide API for the form data, we have to construct it manually.
HttpClientPostForm.java
package com.favtuts.http; import java.io.IOException; import java.net.URI; import java.net.URLEncoder; import java.net.http.HttpClient; import java.net.http.HttpRequest; import java.net.http.HttpResponse; import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets; import java.time.Duration; import java.util.HashMap; import java.util.Map; public class HttpClientPostForm { private static final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_2) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) .build(); public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException { // form parameters Map<Object, Object> data = new HashMap<>(); data.put("username", "abc"); data.put("password", "123"); data.put("custom", "secret"); data.put("ts", System.currentTimeMillis()); HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder() .POST(ofFormData(data)) .uri(URI.create("https://httpbin.org/post")) .setHeader("User-Agent", "Java 11 HttpClient Bot") // add request header .header("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded") .build(); HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()); // print status code System.out.println(response.statusCode()); // print response body System.out.println(response.body()); } // Sample: 'password=123&custom=secret&username=abc&ts=1570704369823' public static HttpRequest.BodyPublisher ofFormData(Map<Object, Object> data) { var builder = new StringBuilder(); for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> entry : data.entrySet()) { if (builder.length() > 0) { builder.append("&"); } builder.append(URLEncoder.encode(entry.getKey().toString(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)); builder.append("="); builder.append(URLEncoder.encode(entry.getValue().toString(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)); } return HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(builder.toString()); } }
Output
200
{
"args": {},
"data": "",
"files": {},
"form": {
"custom": "secret",
"password": "123",
"ts": "1652193037757",
"username": "abc"
},
"headers": {
"Content-Length": "56",
"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-627a770f-6fbdfa77156ce12779ae2ae0"
},
"json": null,
"origin": "14.162.33.98",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/post"
}
5. POST JSON
HttpClientPostJSON.java
package com.favtuts.http; import java.io.IOException; import java.net.URI; import java.net.http.HttpClient; import java.net.http.HttpRequest; import java.net.http.HttpResponse; import java.time.Duration; public class HttpClientPostJSON { private static final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_2) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) .build(); public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException { // json formatted data String json = new StringBuilder() .append("{") .append("\"name\":\"favtuts\",") .append("\"notes\":\"hello\"") .append("}").toString(); // add json header HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder() .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(json)) .uri(URI.create("https://httpbin.org/post")) .setHeader("User-Agent", "Java 11 HttpClient Bot") // add request header .header("Content-Type", "application/json") .build(); HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()); // print status code System.out.println(response.statusCode()); // print response body System.out.println(response.body()); } }
Output
200
{
"args": {},
"data": "{\"name\":\"favtuts\",\"notes\":\"hello\"}",
"files": {},
"form": {},
"headers": {
"Content-Length": "34",
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Host": "httpbin.org",
"User-Agent": "Java 11 HttpClient Bot",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-627a784a-0b2535867b89813140fca0c7"
},
"json": {
"name": "favtuts",
"notes": "hello"
},
"origin": "14.162.33.98",
"url": "https://httpbin.org/post"
}
6. Authentication
6.1 Start a simple Spring Security WebApp provides HTTP basic authentication, and test it with the new Java 11 HttpClient
APIs
HttpClientAuthentication.java
package com.favtuts.http; import java.io.IOException; import java.net.Authenticator; import java.net.PasswordAuthentication; import java.net.URI; import java.net.http.HttpClient; import java.net.http.HttpRequest; import java.net.http.HttpResponse; import java.time.Duration; public class HttpClientAuthentication { private static final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .authenticator(new Authenticator() { @Override protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() { return new PasswordAuthentication( "user", "password".toCharArray()); } }) .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)) .build(); public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException { HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder() .GET() .uri(URI.create("http://localhost:8080/books")) .setHeader("User-Agent", "Java 11 HttpClient Bot") // add request header .build(); HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()); // print status code System.out.println(response.statusCode()); // print response body System.out.println(response.body()); } }
7. FAQs
7.1 Disabled Redirect.
private final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .followRedirects(HttpClient.Redirect.NEVER) .build();
Read this HttpClient.Redirect JavaDoc
7.2 Timeout, 5 seconds.
private final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(5)) .build();
7.3 Set a Proxy.
private final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newBuilder() .proxy(ProxySelector.of(new InetSocketAddress("your-company-proxy.com", 8080))) .build();
Download Source Code
$ git clone https://github.com/favtuts/java-core-tutorials-examples
$ cd java-misc/http