MSDN Documentation

System.Net.Http Namespace

Key Classes

The System.Net.Http namespace contains several core classes that work together to facilitate HTTP communication:

HttpClient

The primary class for sending HTTP requests. It is designed to be instantiated once and reused throughout the lifetime of an application. It handles connection pooling and other performance optimizations.

public class HttpClient : IDisposable
{
    // Methods for sending GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. requests
    public Task<HttpResponseMessage> GetAsync(string requestUri);
    public Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostAsync(string requestUri, HttpContent content);
    // ... other methods
}
                    

HttpRequestMessage

Represents an HTTP request message, including the URI, method, headers, and content.

public class HttpRequestMessage : IDisposable
{
    public string Method { get; set; }
    public Uri RequestUri { get; set; }
    public HttpHeaders Headers { get; }
    public HttpContent Content { get; set; }
    // ... other properties
}
                    

HttpResponseMessage

Represents an HTTP response message, including the status code, headers, and content.

public class HttpResponseMessage : IDisposable
{
    public HttpStatusCode StatusCode { get; set; }
    public string ReasonPhrase { get; set; }
    public HttpHeaders Headers { get; }
    public HttpContent Content { get; set; }
    // ... other properties
}
                    

HttpContent

An abstract base class representing the HTTP content, such as the request body or response body. Derived classes like StringContent and StreamContent are used for specific data types.

public abstract class HttpContent : IDisposable
{
    // Methods to write content to a stream
    protected abstract Task SerializeToStreamAsync(Stream stream, TransportContext context);
    // ... other methods and properties
}
                    

HttpHeaders

Represents the collection of HTTP headers in a request or response.

public abstract class HttpHeaders
{
    // Methods to add, get, and remove headers
    public bool TryAddWithoutValidation(string name, string value);
    public void Add(string name, string value);
    // ... other methods
}
                    

Common Scenarios

• Fetching data from a REST API.
• Sending data to a web service.
• Implementing client-side HTTP functionality in web applications.

Related Topics