Enterprise Java

Simple REST client in Java

Today most of the mobile applications that used to communicate to some server use REST services. These services are also common practice to use with JavaScript or jQuery. Right now I know 2 ways to create client for REST service in java and in this article I will try to demonstrate both the ways I know hoping that it will help someone in some way.

1. Using Apache HttpClient

The Apache HttpClient library simplifies handling HTTP requests. To use this library you have to download the binaries with dependencies from their website.
Here is the code for HTTP GET method:
 
 

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
public class Test {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
  HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();
  HttpGet request = new HttpGet('http://restUrl');
  HttpResponse response = client.execute(request);
  BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader (new InputStreamReader(response.getEntity().getContent()));
  String line = '';
  while ((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
    System.out.println(line);
  }
 }
}

And for Post method; for sending simple string in post:

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.entity.StringEntity;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
public class Test {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
  HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();
  HttpPost post = new HttpPost('http://restUrl');
  StringEntity input = new StringEntity('product');
  post.setEntity(input);
  HttpResponse response = client.execute(post);
  BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(response.getEntity().getContent()));
  String line = '';
  while ((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
   System.out.println(line);
  }
 }
}

You can also send full JSON or XML of a POJO by putting String representing JSON or XML as a parameter of StringEntity and then set the input content type. Something like this:

StringEntity input = new StringEntity('{\'name1\':\'value1\',\'name2\':\'value2\'}'); //here instead of JSON you can also have XML
input.setContentType('application/json');

For JSON you can use JSONObject to create string representation of JSON.

JSONObject json = new JSONObject();
json.put('name1', 'value1');
json.put('name2', 'value2');
StringEntity se = new StringEntity( json.toString());

And for sending multiple parameter in post request:

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.entity.UrlEncodedFormEntity;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
import org.apache.http.message.BasicNameValuePair;
public class Test {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
  HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();
  HttpPost post = new HttpPost('http://restUrl');
  List nameValuePairs = new ArrayList(1);
  nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair('name', 'value')); //you can as many name value pair as you want in the list.
  post.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nameValuePairs));
  HttpResponse response = client.execute(post);
  BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(response.getEntity().getContent()));
  String line = '';
  while ((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
   System.out.println(line);
  }
 }
}

2. Using Jersey

Jersey is the reference implementation forJSR-311 specification, the specification of REST support in Java. Jersey contains basically a REST server and a REST client. it provides a library to communicate with the server producing REST services. For http get method:

import java.io.IOException;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import javax.ws.rs.core.UriBuilder;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.Client;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.WebResource;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.config.ClientConfig;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.config.DefaultClientConfig;
public class Test {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
  ClientConfig config = new DefaultClientConfig();
  Client client = Client.create(config);
  WebResource service = client.resource(UriBuilder.fromUri('http://restUrl').build());
  // getting XML data
  System.out.println(service. path('restPath').path('resourcePath').accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON).get(String.class));
  // getting JSON data
  System.out.println(service. path('restPath').path('resourcePath').accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML).get(String.class));
 }
}

There are also other media formats in which you can get the response like PLAIN or HTML.
And for HTTP POST method:

import java.io.IOException;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MultivaluedMap;
import javax.ws.rs.core.UriBuilder;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.Client;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.ClientResponse;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.WebResource;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.config.ClientConfig;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.config.DefaultClientConfig;
import com.sun.jersey.core.util.MultivaluedMapImpl;
public class Test {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
  ClientConfig config = new DefaultClientConfig();
  Client client = Client.create(config);
  WebResource webResource = client.resource(UriBuilder.fromUri('http://restUrl').build());
  MultivaluedMap formData = new MultivaluedMapImpl();
  formData.add('name1', 'val1');
  formData.add('name2', 'val2');
  ClientResponse response = webResource.type(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED_TYPE).post(ClientResponse.class, formData);
  System.out.println('Response ' + response.getEntity(String.class));
 }
}

If you are using your POJO in the POST then you can do something like following:

ClientResponse response = webResource.path('restPath').path('resourcePath').
type(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON).accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON).post(ClientResponse.class, myPojo);
System.out.println('Response ' + response.getEntity(String.class));

Here myPojo is an instance of custom POJO class.
You can also use Form class from Jersey to submit multiple parameters in POST request:

import java.io.IOException;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import javax.ws.rs.core.UriBuilder;
import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.Client;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.ClientResponse;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.WebResource;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.config.ClientConfig;
import com.sun.jersey.api.client.config.DefaultClientConfig;
import com.sun.jersey.api.representation.Form;
public class Test {
 public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
  ClientConfig config = new DefaultClientConfig();
  Client client = Client.create(config);
  WebResource service = client.resource(UriBuilder.fromUri('http://restUrl').build());
  Form form = new Form();
  form.add('name1', 'value1');
  form.add('name2', 'value1');
  ClientResponse response = service.path('restPath').path('resourcePath').
  type(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED).post(ClientResponse.class, form);
  System.out.println('Response ' + response.getEntity(String.class));
 }
}

Happy coding and don’t forget to share!

Reference: Simple REST client in java from our JCG partner Harsh Raval at the harryjoy blog.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

18 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Charles Maheu
11 years ago

The Fluent API which is part of the Http Client 4.x lib is also pretty good

Lokesh Bathija
Lokesh Bathija
10 years ago

This indeed is helpful. Thanks Harsh.

Prateek Arora
Prateek Arora
10 years ago

Your tutorial is really helpful but please give the link of the JAR’s to use along with the code.

Mohana Priya
Mohana Priya
10 years ago

Thanks Harsh. It is useful to me

Good Nature
9 years ago

Try looking at http-rest-client

https://github.com/g00dnatur3/http-rest-client

Here is a simple example:

RestClient client = RestClient.builder().build();
String geocoderUrl = “http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json”
Map params = Maps.newHashMap();
params.put(“address”, “beverly hills 90210”);
params.put(“sensor”, “false”);
JsonNode node = client.get(geocoderUrl, params, JsonNode.class);

Cheers!

Simon Hem Pedersen
8 years ago

In section 2. the line for GET calls in XML and JSON format respectively, seems to have been switched.

Amit Dudeja
Amit Dudeja
8 years ago

Its working ,Code is accurate….

vipul
vipul
8 years ago

Excellent Post.. one last stop to all query related rest api, Thanks Harsh, Keep posting good technical blog content.

Devz
Devz
8 years ago

Hi Thanks for the post. Its works just fine. I am using your HTTP get and post.

In your : ” sending simple string in post: ” How can I send source frame as source data? Thanks

Juan Moreno
Juan Moreno
8 years ago

Alchemy-HTTP is a really nice library for making Web calls from Java

https://github.com/SirWellington/alchemy-http

From the ReadMe:
Coffee myCoffee = http.go()
.get()
.expecting(Coffee.class)
.at(“http://aroma.tech/orders?orderNumber=99”);

Sergio Panti
Sergio Panti
8 years ago

Hi Thanks for the post. Excellent.

Sergio Panti
Sergio Panti
8 years ago

DefaultHttpClient is deprecated.

It is better to use HttpClientBuilder:

HttpClient httpClient= HttpClientBuilder.create().build();

Maisa
Maisa
7 years ago

Hi!
It’s a clear post and helpful!
Thanks a lot!

suman
suman
7 years ago

I am very new to java. Please let me know how to solve the issue . When i try to run below code , I get error import org.apache.http. cannot be resolved. How to overcome this. I have just typed in eclipse import java.io.BufferedReader; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.InputStreamReader; import org.apache.http.HttpResponse; import org.apache.http.client.ClientProtocolException; import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient; import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet; import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient; public class myget1 { public static void main(String[] args) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException { HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient(); HttpGet request = new HttpGet(‘http://restUrl’); HttpResponse response = client.execute(request); BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader (new InputStreamReader(response.getEntity().getContent())); String line = ”; while ((line = rd.readLine())… Read more »

Ash
Ash
7 years ago
Reply to  suman

,
You need to add the libraries to your project first. Only then the imports will work.
The link to these libraries are mentioned at the very top of the post.

Shiv kumar Napit
Shiv kumar Napit
5 years ago

I am getting HTTP 401 response while calling rest api. Actually the rest api which i am calling requires HTTP authentication. So, can anyone help me with how i can pass my authentication credentials in the request?

sanjay
sanjay
5 years ago

i want a rest api call for https .. how certificate can enter into the picture?

Ran
Ran
5 years ago

Hi i am using REST API without JASON. I am using Put method to upload a document from java to SharePoint. how do i pass required metadata without Using JASON

Back to top button