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    ----------
    HttpComponents Project Goals
    ----------
    ----------
    ----------

Project goals

    The key source of inspiration for Apache HttpComponents is the experience gained in
    developing and supporting Jakarta Commons HttpClient. The following set of goals are
    derived from our experience with HttpClient and serve as the philosophical foundation 
    to HttpComponents.
    
    {{{./commons-httpclient-lessons.html}Lessons Learned - Jakarta Commons HttpClient}}

* {Componentized design}

    * People use HTTP in varied and unexpected ways such as spiders, HTTP proxies, web servers, 
    web clients, and many more. It is not feasible that one monolithic library could cater to
    all possible use scenarios. Instead HttpComponents provides a toolkit of loosely coupled,
    generic components that can be assembled for any task, large or small.

    * HTTP functionality is broken into a set of key components that focus on making the
    most commonly used code the simplest.  Specialized code has been separated to
    enhance API clarity while still providing the features needed for complex applications.

    * HttpComponents is assembled from groups of cooperating classes rather than through inheritance.
    This makes it quite simple for someone to completely customize a single aspect of the HTTP
    process without affecting other unrelated tasks.  It also makes it simple to make changes
    that cut across different kinds of requests (GETs, POSTs, etc).  Again this design remedies
    one of the {{{./commons-httpclient-lessons.html}major deficiencies}} discovered in the HttpClient 
    model.

* {Minimal external dependencies}

    * HttpComponents strives to minimize the use of external dependencies in the low level
    components to make them easier to integrate with complex systems that may depend on a
    significant number of external libraries.