REST Clients Discussion

Old manual client

• ThreadPool
• Database work on worker thread
• non-preemptive authentication (reacts on realm) using HttpUrlConnection

• not cancelable
• manual json conversion (extremely inefficient)
• ugly code

Jersey

• Massive functionality

• 5 times larger that everything else
• no Auth based on realm

• preemptive Auth, Basic + Digest
• Full Jackson support
• matches Server side
• JAX-RS

Volley

• from AOSP
• lightweight
• internal queue, with priority and order
• handles retries / no network most efficient
• caching

• JSONArray / JSONObject support only
• Callbacks always (!) on UI Thread

• Auth handling based on HttpUrlConnection

Retrofit

• lightweight
• queue, customizable, executors for work / callbacks
• very fast
• GSON built in, Jackson compatible (inefficient implementation, transmit: -> String -> Stream)
• super easy API, works similar to jersey on Server side

• No Auth handling, -> HttpUrlConnection

Jetty

dk