There were several goals associated with creating the new HTTP client for the modern Java platform, available with Java 9, 10, and 11. The primary goals are listed in the following table. These goals are presented in the broad categories of ease of use, core capabilities, additional capabilities, and performance:
Ease of use
The API was designed to provide up to 90 percent of HTTP-related application requirements.
The new API is usable, without unnecessary complexity, for the most common use cases.
A simplistic blocking mode is included.
The API supports modern Java language features. Lambda expressions, a major new introduction released with Java 8, is an example.
Corecapabilities
Support HTTPS/TLS
Supports HTTP/2
Provides visibility on all details related to HTTP protocol requests and responses
Provides response body received event notifications
Provides error event notifications
Additional capabilities
The new API can be used for WebSocket handshakes
It performs security checks in concert with the current networking API
Performance
For HTTP/1.1:
The new API must perform at least as effectively as the previous API.
Memory consumption must not exceed that of Apache HttpClient, Netty, and Jetty, when being used as a client API.
For HTTP/2:
Performance must exceed that of HTTP/1.1.
The new performance must match or exceed that of Netty and Jetty when being used as a client API. Performance degradation should not be a result of the new client.
Memory consumption must not exceed that of Apache HttpClient, Netty, and Jetty, when being used as a client API.
