tiniest_http_client.rb

require 'net/http'

class HttpClient
  def initialize(base_url, username = nil, password = nil)
    @base_url = base_url
    @username = username
    @password = password
  end
  
  def get(path, headers = {})
    uri = URI.parse("#{@base_url}#{path}")
    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri.request_uri)
    request.basic_auth @username, @password unless @username.nil?
    headers.keys.each do |key|
      request[key] = headers[key]
    end
    http.request(request)
  end
  
  def post(path, headers = {}, body = "")
    uri = URI.parse("#{@base_url}#{path}")
    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri.request_uri)
    request.basic_auth @username, @password unless @username.nil?
    headers.keys.each do |key|
      request[key] = headers[key]
    end
    request.body = body
    http.request(request)
  end
  
  def put(path, headers = {}, body = "")
    uri = URI.parse("#{@base_url}#{path}")
    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    request = Net::HTTP::Put.new(uri.request_uri)
    request.basic_auth @username, @password unless @username.nil?
    headers.keys.each do |key|
      request[key] = headers[key]
    end
    request.body = body
    http.request(request)
  end
  
  def delete(path)
    uri = URI.parse("#{@base_url}#{path}")
    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    request = Net::HTTP::Delete.new(uri.request_uri)
    request.basic_auth @username, @password unless @username.nil?
    http.request(request)
  end
end

usage.rb

require 'tiniest_http_client'

@http_client = HttpClient.new "http://my_host:8080", "username", "password"

#GET
@http_client.get "/my_resource/1"
@http_client.get "/my_resource/1", {"Accept" => "application/json"}

#POST
@http_client.post "/my_resource/1", {"Content-Type" => "application/xml", "Accept" => "application/xml"}, "this is the body"

#PUT
@http_client.put "/my_resource/1"
@http_client.put "/my_resource/1", {"Content-Type" => "application/xml", "Accept" => "application/xml"}, "this is the body"

#DELETE
@http_client.delete "/my_resource/1"