http package
- Dart course
- Advanced
- Lesson 31/83
- 5 min
Learn the HTTP client with the http package.
The http package
http is Dart's official HTTP client package. The get, post, put, delete functions make simple requests. Each call returns a Future<Response>.
A Response has three main parts: statusCode (int), body (String) and headers (Map). Example: var r = await get(url); print(r.statusCode);.
The package is imported from package:http/http.dart. A URL string is turned into a Uri via Uri.parse.
URLs with Uri.parse
http functions expect the URL as a Uri. Uri.parse('https://example.com/path?q=1') parses a URL string and splits it into structural parts.
Uri parts: .host (example.com), .path (/path), .query (q=1), .scheme (https). Each part can be read individually.
Example: var u = Uri.parse('https://api.example.com/users'); print(u.host); → 'api.example.com'. This is a deterministic way to analyze a URL statically.
Practice Parse a URL and print it
Inside main add var u = Uri.parse('https://api.example.com/users');. Add print(u.host); and print(u.path);.
Starter code
void main() {
// parse URL into Uri; print host and path
}Sample solution
void main() {
var u = Uri.parse('https://api.example.com/users');
print(u.host);
print(u.path);
}Expected output
api.example.com /users
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 What does http.get return?
- String
- int
- Future<Response> Correct answer
- Stream
Explanation: get returns a Future<Response> asynchronously.
2 GET call
var r = await ____(Uri.parse(url));var r = await get(Uri.parse(url));Explanation: get(Uri) makes a GET request.
3 Match the Uri parts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
.host |
Domain name |
.path |
Path |
.query |
Query |
.scheme |
https |