Description:

The Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is perhaps the most significant
protocol used on the Internet today.
Web services, network-enabled appliances and the growth of network computing
continue to expand the role of the HTTP protocol beyond user-driven web
browsers, while increasing the number of applications that require HTTP
support.

Although the java.net package provides basic functionality for accessing
resources via HTTP, it doesn't provide the full flexibility or functionality
needed by many applications.

The Jakarta Commons HttpClient component seeks to fill this void by providing
an efficient, up-to-date, and feature-rich package implementing the client
side of the most recent HTTP standards and recommendations.

Designed for extension while providing robust support for the base HTTP
protocol, the HttpClient component may be of interest to anyone building
HTTP-aware client applications such as web browsers, web service clients,
or systems that leverage or extend the HTTP protocol for distributed
communication.

There are many projects that use HttpClient to provide the core HTTP
functionality. Some of these are open source with project pages you can find
on the web while others are closed source that you would never see or hear
about.