How to Make an HTTP Request with Java

Java 11+ includes HttpClient in the standard library. For older versions, use libraries like OkHttp or Apache HttpClient.

GET request example

Making a GET request to fetch data with custom headers:

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://api.example.com/users"))
    .header("Accept", "application/json")
    .header("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN")
    .GET()
    .build();
HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());

POST request example

Making a POST request to send JSON data:

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
String body = "{"name":"John","email":"john@example.com"}";
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://api.example.com/users"))
    .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(body))
    .build();
HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());

Other libraries you can try

Python: Requests — simple and popular HTTP library, HTTPX — async-capable HTTP client
JavaScript: Axios — promise-based HTTP client, node-fetch — Fetch API for Node.js
Ruby: HTTParty — simple HTTP client, Faraday — flexible HTTP library, RestClient — lightweight REST client
Java: OkHttp — efficient HTTP client, Apache HttpClient — feature-rich library
C#: RestSharp — simple REST client, Flurl — fluent HTTP library
Go: resty — simple HTTP client, grequests — goroutine-based requests
PHP: Guzzle — popular PHP HTTP client, Symfony HttpClient — component-based HTTP client