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    ----------
    HttpComponents HttpCore Overview
    ----------
    ----------
    ----------

HttpCore Overview

    HttpCore components implement the most fundamental aspects of the HTTP protocol that 
    are nonetheless sufficient to develop full-featured client-side and server-side HTTP 
    services with a minimal footprint.

Modules

    HttpCore has a modular structure with a base module and a number of specialized 
    extensions.

* HttpCore base module

    The {{{httpcore/index.html}Base}} module contains the HttpCore public API and the 
    default implementation based on the classic (blocking) Java I/O model. It 
    requires a Java 1.3 compatible runtime and has no dependency on any external libraries.

* HttpCore NIO extensions

    HttpCore {{{httpcore-nio/index.html}NIO extensions}} contain optional 
    components that leverage the event driven, non-blocking I/O (NIO) model. HttpCore NIO 
    extensions require a Java 5.0 compatible runtime and the HttpCore base module.

Standards Compliance

    HttpCore components strive to conform to the following specifications endorsed by the Internet 
    Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the internet at large:

    * {{{http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1945.txt}RFC 1945}} - Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0

    * {{{http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt}RFC 2116}} - Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1
    
Examples

    Some examples of HttpCore components in action can be found {{{examples.html}here}}