What is HTTP?

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol for data transfer, primarily hypertext, in distributed information systems. It is the foundation of data exchange on the World Wide Web.

Key characteristics:

• Client-server architecture: Interaction occurs between a client (e.g., a browser) and a server. The client sends requests, and the server processes them and sends responses.
• Stateless: By default, HTTP does not retain state between requests. Each request is processed independently. Mechanisms like cookies are used to maintain state.
• Uses TCP/IP: HTTP operates over the TCP protocol.
• Request-response based: The client sends a request, including method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.), URL, headers, and optionally a message body. The server responds with a status code, headers, and optionally a message body.

Example of a simple HTTP GET request:

GET /index.html HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0