title: What exactly does URLConnection.setDoOutput() affect?
body: <p>There's <code>setDoOutput()</code> in <code>URLConnection</code>. According to <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/api/java/net/URLConnection.html#setDoOutput%28boolean%29" rel="noreferrer">documentation</a> I should </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Set the DoOutput flag to true if you intend to use the URL connection for output, false if not.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Now I'm facing <a href="http://webdiary.com/tag/httpurlconnection/" rel="noreferrer">exactly this problem</a> - the Java runtime converts the request to <code>POST</code> once <code>setDoOutput(true)</code> is called and the server only responds to <code>GET</code> requests. I want to understand what happens if I remove that <code>setDoOutput(true)</code> from the code.</p>
  
  <p>What exactly will this affect? Suppose I set it to <code>false</code> - what can I do now and what can't I do now? Will I be able to perform <code>GET</code> requests? What is "output" in context of this method?</p>