Httpclient gives something like the functionality of libwww-perl (LWP) in Ruby.

Features: * methods like GET/HEAD/POST/* via HTTP/1.1. * HTTPS(SSL), Cookies, proxy, authentication(Digest, NTLM, Basic), etc. * asynchronous HTTP request, streaming HTTP request. * by contrast with net/http in standard distribution; - Cookies support - MT-safe - streaming POST (POST with File/IO) - Digest auth - Negotiate/NTLM auth for WWW-Authenticate (requires net/htlm module) - NTLM auth for WWW-Authenticate/Proxy-Authenticate (requires win32/sspi module) - extensible with filter interface - you don't have to care HTTP/1.1 persistent connection (httpclient cares instead of you).