4 Ways to Parse a JSON API with C#

HttpClientApproach.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;

namespace HttpClientApproach
{
    internal class Contributor
    {
        public string Login { get; set; }
        public short Contributions { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return $"{Login, 20}: {Contributions} contributions";
        }
    }

    internal class Program
    {
        private static void Main()
        {
            List<Contributor> contributors;
            using (var client = new HttpClient())
            {
                client.BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.github.com");
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("User-Agent", "Anything");
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

                var response = client.GetAsync("repos/twilio/twilio-csharp/contributors").Result;
                response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
                contributors = response.Content.ReadAsAsync<List<Contributor>>().Result;
            }

            contributors.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

HttpWebClientApproach.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace HttpWebClientApproach
{
    internal class Contributor
    {
        public string Login { get; set; }
        public short Contributions { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return $"{Login, 20}: {Contributions} contributions";
        }
    }

    internal class Program
    {
        private static void Main()
        {
            var webRequest = WebRequest.Create("https://api.github.com/repos/twilio/twilio-csharp/contributors") as HttpWebRequest;
            if (webRequest == null)
            {
                return;
            }

            webRequest.ContentType = "application/json";
            webRequest.UserAgent = "Nothing";

            using (var s = webRequest.GetResponse().GetResponseStream())
            {
                using (var sr = new StreamReader(s))
                {
                    var contributorsAsJson = sr.ReadToEnd();
                    var contributors = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Contributor>>(contributorsAsJson);
                    contributors.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);
                }
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

RestSharpApproach.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using RestSharp;

namespace RestSharpApproach
{
    internal class Contributor
    {
        public string Login { get; set; }
        public short Contributions { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return $"{Login, 20}: {Contributions} contributions";
        }
    }

    internal class Program
    {
        private static void Main()
        {
            var client = new RestClient("https://api.github.com");

            var request = new RestRequest("repos/twilio/twilio-csharp/contributors", Method.GET);
            // Add HTTP headers
            request.AddHeader("User-Agent", "Nothing");

            // Execute the request and automatically deserialize the result.
            var contributors = client.Execute<List<Contributor>>(request);
            contributors.Data.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

WebClientApproach.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.Text;

namespace WebClientApproach
{
    [DataContract]
    internal class Contributor
    {
        [DataMember(Name = "login")]
        public string Login { get; set; }
        [DataMember(Name = "contributions")]
        public short Contributions { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return $"{Login, 20}: {Contributions} contributions";
        }
    }

    internal class Program
    {
        private const string Url = "https://api.github.com/repos/twilio/twilio-csharp/contributors";

        private static void Main()
        {
            GetContributors();
            GetContributorsAsync();

            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        public static void GetContributors()
        {

            var client = new WebClient();
            client.Headers.Add("User-Agent", "Nothing");

            var content = client.DownloadString(Url);

            var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(List<Contributor>));
            using (var ms = new MemoryStream(Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(content)))
            {
                var contributors = (List<Contributor>)serializer.ReadObject(ms);
                contributors.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);
            }
        }

        public static void GetContributorsAsync()
        {
            var client = new WebClient();
            client.Headers.Add("User-Agent", "Nothing");

            client.DownloadStringCompleted += (sender, e) =>
            {
                var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(List<Contributor>));
                using (var ms = new MemoryStream(Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(e.Result)))
                {
                    var contributors = (List<Contributor>)serializer.ReadObject(ms);
                    contributors.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);
                }
            };

            client.DownloadStringAsync(new Uri(Url));
        }
    }
}

thanks

Thanks great examples, if anyone stumbles upon this and want to read dynamic json data, check
How to read JSON data in C# (Dynamic and simple json)
Thanks

THANKS

Thans

In 1st method ReadAsAsync is giving error
System.Net.Http.HttpContent' does not contain a definition for 'ReadAsAsync' and no extension method

Thanks man I have tested them all and got good experience

You are amazing, thanks for sharing this.