[[webmvc-client]]
= REST Clients

This section describes options for client-side access to REST endpoints.




[[webmvc-resttemplate]]
== `RestTemplate`

`RestTemplate` is a synchronous client to perform HTTP requests. It is the original
Spring REST client and exposes a simple, template-method API over underlying HTTP client
libraries.

NOTE: As of 5.0, the non-blocking, reactive `WebClient` offers a modern alternative to the
`RestTemplate`, with efficient support for both
<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-client-synchronous, synchronous and asynchronous>>, as well as
streaming scenarios. The `RestTemplate` will be deprecated in a future version and will
not have major new features added going forward.


See <<integration.adoc#rest-client-access, REST Endpoints>> for details.




[[webmvc-webclient]]
== `WebClient`

`WebClient` is a non-blocking, reactive client to perform HTTP requests. It was
introduced in 5.0 and offers a modern alternative to the `RestTemplate`, with efficient
support for both synchronous and asynchronous, as well as streaming scenarios.

In contrast to `RestTemplate`, `WebClient` supports the following:

* Non-blocking I/O.
* Reactive Streams back pressure.
* High concurrency with fewer hardware resources.
* Functional-style, fluent API that takes advantage of Java 8 lambdas.
* Synchronous and asynchronous interactions.
* Streaming up to or streaming down from a server.

See <<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-client, WebClient>> for more details.
