title: What difference is there between WebClient and HTTPWebRequest classes in .NET?
body: <p>What difference is there between the <code>WebClient</code> and the <code>HttpWebRequest</code> classes in .NET? They both do very similar things. In fact, why weren't they merged into one class (too many methods/variables etc may be one reason but there are other classes in .NET which breaks that rule).</p>
  
  <p>Thanks.</p>