Welcome to the basics of HTTP! HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the foundation of data communication on the web. It's the protocol that allows your web browser to request and receive web pages from a web server.

Key Concepts

  • Client: The client is typically a web browser. It sends requests to the server for resources like web pages, images, and videos.
  • Server: The server is a computer that hosts websites and responds to client requests.
  • Request: A request is sent by a client to the server, asking for a specific resource.
  • Response: The server sends back a response to the client's request, which includes the requested resource or an error message.

How It Works

  1. Client sends a request: The client sends an HTTP request to the server, specifying the resource it wants.
  2. Server processes the request: The server receives the request and processes it. This might involve fetching the requested resource from a database or file system.
  3. Server sends a response: Once the server has processed the request, it sends an HTTP response back to the client. This response includes the requested resource, status code, and headers.

Common HTTP Methods

  • GET: Retrieve a resource.
  • POST: Submit data to be processed to a specified resource.
  • PUT: Update a resource.
  • DELETE: Delete a resource.

Example

Here's an example of an HTTP GET request for a web page:

GET /basics/intro HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com

Learn More

For more in-depth information about HTTP, check out our HTTP Guide.

HTTP Diagram