Volley is an Android networking library that streamlines making asynchronous HTTP requests, caching responses, and managing image loading with minimal code. It provides request queues, thread pools, and lifecycle-aware cancellation so network work integrates cleanly with activities and fragments. Out of the box it supports JSON, string, and image requests, plus an extensible Request/Response model for custom payloads. Volley emphasizes responsiveness: transparent caching and de-duplication of in-flight requests help reduce latency and bandwidth usage. Error handling, retries with backoff, and request prioritization are first-class, making it easier to handle flaky mobile networks. While Android has other HTTP stacks, Volley’s value is in opinionated, high-level primitives that fit common app patterns without pulling in heavy dependencies.
Features
- Request queue with prioritization, retries, and cancellation
- Transparent disk and memory caching for fast responses
- Built-in JSON, string, and image request helpers
- De-duplication of identical in-flight requests
- Pluggable networking and parsing layers for custom types
- Lifecycle-friendly APIs for Activities/Fragments