HTTP

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

This is a set of rules for everything on the internet to speak so that everyone is "speaking the same language."

By establishing this standard, servers can communicate with each other in a sensible and expected manner.

Some nitty gritty#

A network request that is communicating using HTTP is made of a couple important parts:

• HTTP version: There are several versions of HTTP that differ in various ways. It is important for both the requesting and responding party to know which version of the protocol to use.
• A URL: Where we goin'?! This lets the internet know where to go to find what you are looking for.
• An HTTP method: There are different "actions" you can perform when you make an HTTP request.
  • GET: This is for when you want to retrieve something.
  • POST: This is to save some new information somewhere. You're "posting" it - like tweet on Twitter!
  • DELETE: This is to remove something from the resource you've requested. Delete my tweet!
  • There are many others but these are a couple of the simplest for our explanation.
• Headers: These are pieces of data that describe the request that is being made. For example, you may find a header for authorization that contains a token to tell the server who made this request.
• HTTP body: This is the part of the request that actually contains data. If you this request is a POST, for example, the body is going to contain the information that we want to post.