Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

About

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the foundation of the World Wide Web, and is used to load webpages using hypertext links. HTTP is an application layer protocol designed to transfer information between networked devices and runs on top of other layers of the network protocol stack.¹. HTTP is an Application layer protocol for communication between web browsers and web servers, but it can also be used for other purposes, such as machine-to-machine communication, programmatic access to APIs, and more². HTTP is a stateless protocol, meaning that the server does not keep any session data between two requests, although the later addition of cookies adds state to some client-server interactions. HTTP is a stateless application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypertext information systems.

Typical HTTP Flow

HTTP follows the client-server model, with a client opening a connection to make a request, then waiting until it receives a response from the server. A typical flow over HTTP involves a client machine making a request to a server, which then sends a response message¹.

HTTP resources

• See HTTP resources

HTTP representations

• See HTTP representations

HTTP headers

• See HTTP headers

HTTP request

• See HTTP request and HTTP method (HTTP verb)

HTTP response

• See HTTP response

Full HTTP Diagram

• See Full HTTP Diagram

Anki

Links

• RESTful API (REST API)

References