The new HTTP client [JEP-110]

In this section, we will review Java's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client, starting with a pre-Java 9 look and then diving into the new HTTP client that is part of the Java 9 platform. This approach is needed to support an understanding of the changes made in Java 9.

The HTTP client before Java 9

JDK version 1.1 introduced the HttpURLConnection API that supported HTTP-specific features. This was a robust class that included the fields listed here:

• chunkLength
• fixedContentLength
• fixedContentLengthLong
• HTTP_ACCEPTED
• HTTP_BAD_GATEWAY
• HTTP_BAD_METHOD
• HTTP_BAD_REQUEST
• HTTP_CLIENT_TIMEOUT
• HTTP_CONFLICT
• HTTP_CREATED
• HTTP_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE
• HTTP_FORBIDDEN
• HTTP_GONE
• HTTP_INTERNAL_ERROR
• HTTP_LENGTH_REQUIRED
• HTTP_MOVED_PERM
• HTTP_MOVED_TEMP
• HTTP_MULT_CHOICE
• HTTP_NO_CONTENT
• HTTP_NOT_ACCEPTABLE
• HTTP_NOT_AUTHORITATIVE
• HTTP_NOT_FOUND
• HTTP_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
• HTTP_NOT_MODIFIED
• HTTP_OK
• HTTP_PARTIAL
• HTTP_PAYMENT_REQUIRED
• HTTP_PRECON_FAILED
• HTTP_PROXY_AUTH
• HTTP_REQ_TOO_LONG
• HTTP_RESET
• HTTP_SEE_OTHER
• HTTP_SERVER_ERROR...