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| <preface id="preface"> |
| <title>Preface</title> |
| <para> |
| The Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is perhaps the most significant protocol used on the |
| Internet today. Web services, network-enabled appliances and the growth of network computing |
| continue to expand the role of the HTTP protocol beyond user-driven web browsers, while |
| increasing the number of applications that require HTTP support. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| Although the java.net package provides basic functionality for accessing resources via HTTP, |
| it doesn't provide the full flexibility or functionality needed by many applications. |
| HttpClient seeks to fill this void by providing an efficient, up-to-date, and feature-rich |
| package implementing the client side of the most recent HTTP standards and recommendations. |
| </para> |
| <para> |
| Designed for extension while providing robust support for the base HTTP protocol, HttpClient |
| may be of interest to anyone building HTTP-aware client applications such as web browsers, web |
| service clients, or systems that leverage or extend the HTTP protocol for distributed |
| communication. |
| </para> |
| <section> |
| <title>HttpClient scope</title> |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Client-side HTTP transport library based on <ulink |
| url="http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-core/index.html">HttpCore</ulink> |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Based on classic (blocking) I/O |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| Content agnostic |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| </section> |
| <section> |
| <title>What HttpClient is NOT</title> |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem> |
| <para> |
| HttpClient is NOT a browser. It is a client side HTTP transport library. |
| HttpClient's purpose is to transmit and receive HTTP messages. HttpClient will not |
| attempt to process content, execute javascript embedded in HTML pages, try to guess |
| content type, if not explicitly set, or reformat request / rewrite location URIs, |
| or other functionality unrelated to the HTTP transport. |
| </para> |
| </listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| </section> |
| |
| </preface> |