Summary

The .NET Framework offers extensive support for the HTTP protocol. In addition, the WebRequest classes offer an abstract interface to protocols oriented as request-reply, including HTTP. This makes accessing these protocols extremely easy. We also demonstrated how to configure Web requests for common network scenarios such as proxy servers. Finally, we discussed how to secure Web requests by using SSL and supplying credentials and security certificates. The next chapter is the first chapter in the advanced topics section of this book. It covers programming with XML Web services.