Java:Utility method to make GET and POST calls.

HttpUtil.java

import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

import org.apache.commons.httpclient.Header;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpClient;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpStatus;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.SimpleHttpConnectionManager;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.URI;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.methods.GetMethod;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.methods.PostMethod;
import org.apache.commons.httpclient.params.HttpConnectionManagerParams;
import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;

public class HttpUtil {

	private static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(HttpUtil.class);
	public static final int HTTP_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT = 30000;

	public static String sendGetRequest(String requestURL,int connectTimeout) throws Exception
	{
		HttpConnectionManagerParams connectionParams=new HttpConnectionManagerParams();
		connectionParams.setConnectionTimeout(connectTimeout);

		HttpClient httpClient = new HttpClient();
		httpClient.getHttpConnectionManager().setParams(connectionParams);

		GetMethod getMethod = new GetMethod();
		URI uri = new URI(requestURL, true);
		logger.debug("requestURL "+uri);
		getMethod.setURI(uri);

		int httpStatus = httpClient.executeMethod(getMethod);
		InputStream is = getMethod.getResponseBodyAsStream();
		String response = IOUtils.toString(is);

		logger.debug("Response("+httpStatus+")s");
		if(httpStatus != HttpStatus.SC_OK)
		{
			throw new Exception(response);
		}
		return response;
	}

	public static PostMethod sendPostRequest(String requestURL, Map<String, String> headersMap, String postDataBody, int connectionTimeout) throws Exception
	{
		logger.debug("Entering sendPostRequest method");
		logger.debug("requestURL::"+requestURL+"::connectionTimeout"+connectionTimeout);
		PostMethod postMethod = new PostMethod(requestURL);

		if(headersMap != null && headersMap.size() > 0)
		{
			logger.debug("headersMap::"+headersMap);
			for(Map.Entry<String,String> entry: headersMap.entrySet())
			{
				postMethod.setRequestHeader(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
			}
		}

		postMethod.setRequestBody(postDataBody);

		HttpConnectionManagerParams connectionManagerParams = new HttpConnectionManagerParams();
		connectionManagerParams.setConnectionTimeout(connectionTimeout);

		SimpleHttpConnectionManager connectionManager = new SimpleHttpConnectionManager();
		connectionManager.setParams(connectionManagerParams);

		HttpClient httpClient = new HttpClient(connectionManager);

		httpClient.executeMethod(postMethod);

		logger.debug("Exiting sendPostRequest method");
		return postMethod;
	}

	public static Map<String,String> responseHeadersMap(PostMethod postMethod) throws Exception
	{
		Map<String,String> responseHeadersMap = new HashMap<String, String>();
		if(postMethod != null)
		{
			Header[] responseHeaders = postMethod.getResponseHeaders();

			if (responseHeaders != null)
			{
				for (Header responseHeader : responseHeaders)
				{
					responseHeadersMap.put(responseHeader.getName(), responseHeader.getValue());
				}
			}
		}
		logger.debug("responseHeadersMap::"+responseHeadersMap);
		return responseHeadersMap;
	}

	public static String responseBody(PostMethod postMethod)
	{
		String response = null;
		try
		{
			response = IOUtils.toString(postMethod.getResponseBodyAsStream());
		}catch (Exception e)
		{
			logger.error("Error response from server");
			logger.error(e);
		}
		logger.debug("Final response::"+response);
		return response;
	}

	public static void main(String[] args){
		String postUrl = "<some post url>";
		logger.debug("postUrl::"+postUrl);

		String contentType = "application/xml";
		Map<String, String> headersMap = new HashMap<String, String>();
		headersMap.put("Content-type",contentType);

		String postDataBody = "<some post body>";
		PostMethod postMethod;
		try {
			postMethod = sendPostRequest(postUrl, headersMap, postDataBody, HTTP_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT);

			Map<String,String> responseHeadersMap = responseHeadersMap(postMethod);
			String responseContentType = (responseHeadersMap.get("Content-Type") != null)?responseHeadersMap.get("Content-Type"):responseHeadersMap.get("Content-type");
			logger.debug("responseContentType::"+responseContentType);

			String response = responseBody(postMethod);
			logger.debug("Post url response::"+response);


		} catch (Exception e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
}