Thread: Simplest way to do an F&F HTTP request

Hello everybody,

From the JVM (Java 8) point of view, what is in your mind the resource-cleanest way to do an asynchronous HTTP request that doesn't need to treat a response?

What I actually do is:

- I use a cachedThreadPool that quietly lives in a singleton bean
- Every time I need to send a request, I create a new thread (with executor.submit), I create an HttpPost (from org.apache.http.client) and I execute the post on a ClosableHttpClient inside a try(...){}
- At the end in the same thread I do EntityUtils.consume on the eventual response

Is there any simpler and cleaner way to do it on Java 8?

Thanks in advance, kind regards

Hello,

You can simplify and clean up your asynchronous HTTP request in Java 8 by leveraging `CompletableFuture` alongside the `HttpClient` from Apache HttpComponents. This approach avoids manually managing threads and provides a cleaner way to handle asynchronous tasks. Here's a streamlined version of your approach:

1. Use `CompletableFuture` for asynchronous handling.
2. Reuse a single instance of `CloseableHttpClient`.

Here's a sample implementation:

```java
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClients;
import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;

import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

public class AsyncHttpClient {

private static final CloseableHttpClient httpClient = HttpClients.createDefault();
private static final ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool();

public static void sendAsyncRequest(String url) {
CompletableFuture.runAsync(() -> {
HttpPost post = new HttpPost(url);
try (CloseableHttpClient client = httpClient) {
client.execute(post, response -> {
EntityUtils.consume(response.getEntity());
return null; // No need to process the response
});
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace(); // Handle exception appropriately
}
}, executorService);
}

public static void shutdown() {
executorService.shutdown();
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
sendAsyncRequest("http://example.com");
shutdown();
}
}
```

Explanation:

1. Static `CloseableHttpClient`:
- We create a single instance of `CloseableHttpClient` to be reused for all requests, which avoids the overhead of creating a new client for each request.

2. `CompletableFuture.runAsync`:
- We use `CompletableFuture.runAsync` to run the HTTP request in a separate thread managed by the `ExecutorService`. This simplifies asynchronous execution without directly handling threads.

3. Resource Management:
- `EntityUtils.consume` ensures that the response entity is properly consumed and the connection can be reused.
- The `shutdown` method is used to properly shut down the `ExecutorService` when it’s no longer needed.

For those looking to deepen their understanding of Java asynchronous programming or seeking help with Java assignment, various online resources and platforms offer comprehensive guidance and solutions like ProgrammingHomeworkHelp.com.

Looks good. Where are you doing the programs from? I'm on a verizon/spectrum network. But the programs I'm on are all on Windows, Linux, os operating system. I'm not on any JavaBeans network. So I wouldn't know any of the actually procedures. But thanks.