How many .NET HTTP request components have you used?

The .NET platform has many http request components to choose from, including the official website and open source components. This article introduces several commonly used components on the .NET platform. Have you used them all?

HttpClient

HttpClient is one of the most commonly used http request components in .NET Core, and it is also one of the components of the official website. It is a lightweight, extensible library that can be used to send HTTP requests and receive HTTP responses. It provides some convenient methods, such as GetAsync, PostAsync, etc., and supports features such as asynchronous operations and cancellation operations.

Sample code for sending a GET request to get a response using HttpClient:

static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        using var httpClient = new HttpClient();
        var response = await httpClient. GetAsync("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts");
        var content = await response. Content. ReadAsStringAsync();
        Console. WriteLine(content);
    }

Sample code for Post request:

static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        using var httpClient = new HttpClient();
        var data = new { name = "John", age = 30 };
        var json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data);
        var content = new StringContent(json, Encoding. UTF8, "application/json");
        var response = await httpClient.PostAsync("https://example.com/api/users", content);
        var responseContent = await response. Content. ReadAsStringAsync();
        Console. WriteLine(responseContent);
    }

WebClient

WebClient is a class in the .NET framework that provides some convenient methods to send HTTP requests and receive HTTP responses. It supports synchronous and asynchronous operations, and you can customize HTTP request headers by setting the Headers property.

Sample code for sending a GET request to get a response using WebClient:

using System;
using System.Net;
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        using var webClient = new WebClient();
        var response = webClient.DownloadString("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts");
        Console. WriteLine(response);
    }
}

Sample code for sending POST request using WebClient:

using System;
using System.Net;
using System. Text;
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        using var webClient = new WebClient();
        webClient.Headers[HttpRequestHeader.ContentType] = "application/json";
        var data = new { name = "John", age = 30 };
        var json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data);
        var response = webClient.UploadString("https://example.com/api/users", "POST", json);
        Console. WriteLine(response);
    }
}

HttpWebRequest

HttpWebRequest is another class in the .NET framework, which provides lower-level HTTP request control, allowing you to manually set the request header, request body, request method, etc. It is a lower-level component that requires manual handling of some details, but also provides more customization capabilities.

Sample code for sending a GET request to get a response using HttpWebRequest:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;




class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var request = WebRequest.Create("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts") as HttpWebRequest;
        request.Method = "GET";
        var response = request. GetResponse() as HttpWebResponse;
        using var streamReader = new StreamReader(response. GetResponseStream());
        var content = streamReader. ReadToEnd();
        Console. WriteLine(content);
    }
}

Sample code for sending POST request using HttpWebRequest:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System. Text;
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var request = WebRequest.Create("https://example.com/api/users") as HttpWebRequest;
        request.Method = "POST";
        request.ContentType = "application/json";
        var data = new { name = "John", age = 30 };
        var json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data);
        var bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(json);
        request.ContentLength = bytes.Length;
        using var stream = request. GetRequestStream();
        stream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
        var response = request. GetResponse() as HttpWebResponse;
        using var streamReader = new StreamReader(response. GetResponseStream());
        var responseContent = streamReader. ReadToEnd();
        Console. WriteLine(responseContent);
    }
}

RestSharp

RestSharp is a lightweight, easy-to-use REST and HTTP API client library on the .NET platform. It supports synchronous and asynchronous operations and can easily handle RESTful API calls.

Open source address: https://github.com/restsharp/RestSharp

Sample code for requesting GET to get a response:

using System;
using RestSharp;




class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var restClient = new RestClient("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com");
        var restRequest = new RestRequest("/posts", Method. GET);
        var response = restClient. Execute(restRequest);
        Console. WriteLine(response. Content);
    }
}

Sample code to send POST request using RestSharp:

using System;
using RestSharp;




class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var restClient = new RestClient("https://example.com/api");
        var restRequest = new RestRequest("/users", Method. POST);
        restRequest.AddHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
        restRequest.AddJsonBody(new { name = "John", age = 30 });
        var response = restClient. Execute(restRequest);
        Console. WriteLine(response. Content);
    }
}

Flurl

Flurl is a lightweight, easy-to-use URL building and HTTP client library that supports chained APIs and a fluent syntax. It provides some convenient methods, such as GetAsync, PostAsync, etc., as well as features such as support for asynchronous operations and custom request headers.

Open source address: https://github.com/tmenier/Flurl

Sample code for using Flurl to send a GET request to get a response:

using Flurl;
using Flurl.Http;
using System. Threading. Tasks;
class Program
{
    static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var responseString = await "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts".GetStringAsync();
        Console. WriteLine(responseString);
    }
}

Sample code to send a POST request using Flurl:

using Flurl;
using Flurl.Http;
using System. Threading. Tasks;




class Program
{
    static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var responseString = await "https://example.com/api/users".PostJsonAsync(new { name = "John", age = 30 }).ReceiveString();
        Console. WriteLine(responseString);
    }
}

Comparison of open source components

Briefly compare the advantages and disadvantages of the open source components RestSharp and Flurl, for your reference:

Advantages of RestSharp:

RestSharp provides relatively comprehensive HTTP client functions, such as supporting multiple HTTP methods, request headers and parameter settings, and also supports serialization and deserialization of XML and JSON.

RestSharp’s API design and usage are relatively simple and easy to understand, suitable for quick use and simple application scenarios.

RestSharp’s implementation of some functions is more detailed, such as supporting request retry, error handling, etc.

RestSharp is an old-fashioned HTTP client library with a long history and relatively good stability and compatibility.

Disadvantages of RestSharp components:

RestSharp’s API design does not take scalability and flexibility into account too much, and some advanced usages may need to be handled manually by yourself, such as using custom serializers, etc.

The development and update of RestSharp is relatively slow, and there have not been many updates and maintenance in recent years.

RestSharp does not support asynchronous operations and can only send requests synchronously.

Advantages of Flurl:

Flurl’s API design is very flexible, supports chain calls, and also provides many extension methods and properties, such as timeout, automatic retry, HTTP error handling, etc.

Flurl has better performance, supports asynchronous operations, and provides some optimization and performance monitoring tools, such as Flurl.Http.Diagnostics and Flurl.Http.Testing.

Flurl supports URL builder, which can simplify URL construction and management, and also supports query parameters and URL encoding, etc.

Flurl provides a variety of data serialization methods, such as JSON, XML, UrlEncoded and FormEncoded, and supports custom serializers.

Flurl is a relatively young HTTP client library with rapid development and frequent updates.

Disadvantages of Flurl components:

Flurl’s API design is relatively flexible, and may require a certain amount of learning and understanding costs.

Flurl’s documentation is relatively small, and some advanced usage and extensions may need to consult the source code or other materials by themselves.

The scalability and flexibility of Flurl may cause some problems when used improperly, such as memory leaks, etc.

Generally speaking, both RestSharp and Flurl are excellent HTTP client libraries for the .NET platform. They have their own advantages and disadvantages and applicable scenarios. Developers can choose according to their own needs and preferences. If you need a simple and easy-to-use HTTP client library, and it is mainly used for simple HTTP request and response processing, then RestSharp may be a good choice; if you need a more flexible and extensible HTTP client library, And you need to support advanced features such as asynchronous operations and custom serializers, then Flurl may be more suitable for you.

Conclusion

The above are some commonly used http request components in the .NET platform. You can choose suitable components to use according to your own needs. The editor suggests that if it is a common request, you can choose HttpClient. If you need some special functions, you can choose the open source components RestSharp and Flurl . I hope this article has gained something for you, and you are welcome to complain.

Reference: ChatGPT

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