HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the fundamental protocol used for communication on the World Wide Web. It is an application layer protocol that enables the transfer of hypertext, which includes text, images, videos, and other multimedia, between clients (such as web browsers) and servers. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, as well as the actions that web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands
HTTP is a protocol designed for retrieving resources like HTML documents. It serves as the core framework for data exchange on the internet and operates as a client-server protocol. In this setup, requests are instigated by the recipient, typically the web browser. The entire document is pieced together from various sub-documents acquired, encompassing text, layout descriptions, images, videos, scripts, and additional elements.
Communication between clients and servers occurs through the exchange of discrete messages rather than a continuous stream of data. The client, commonly a web browser, transmits messages known as requests, while the server responds with messages termed as responses.
Key features and aspects of HTTP include:
- Stateless Protocol: HTTP is stateless, meaning that each request from a client to a server is independent and unrelated to previous requests. The server does not retain any information about the client’s previous requests.
- Client-Server Architecture: It follows a client-server model, where the client (typically a web browser) sends requests to the server, and the server responds with the requested resources (such as web pages or files).
- Request-Response Paradigm: Communication between the client and server is based on a request-response paradigm. The client sends an HTTP request to the server, and the server responds with the requested data or an error message.
- Connectionless: Each request from the client is treated as an independent transaction, and the connection between the client and server is typically closed after a response is sent. However, modern implementations may use techniques like persistent connections to keep the connection open for multiple requests.
- Text-based Protocol: HTTP messages are plain text, making them human-readable and easy to interpret. The messages consist of a header section containing metadata and an optional body containing the actual data being transferred.
- Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs): Resources on the web are identified using Uniform Resource Identifiers, commonly in the form of URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).
HTTP is the foundation of data communication on the web, and it forms the basis for more secure and advanced protocols like HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), which incorporates encryption to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data during transmission.