Web APIs Overview
These APIs provide the building blocks for creating robust, high‑performance web applications with .NET. Explore the most commonly used classes, methods, and patterns.
HttpClient
A modern, async‑based HTTP client for sending requests and receiving responses.
using var client = new HttpClient();
var response = await client.GetAsync("https://api.example.com/data");
var content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();HttpWebRequest / HttpWebResponse
Legacy API for fine‑grained control over HTTP requests.
var request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(url);
request.Method = "GET";
using var response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
using var stream = response.GetResponseStream();WebClient
Simple API for quick uploads and downloads.
using var client = new WebClient();
string data = client.DownloadString("https://example.com");Socket
Low‑level networking for custom protocols.
var socket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
socket.Connect(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"), 8080);
byte[] buffer = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("Hello");