Developer Dictionary

HTTP

Definition

Hypertext Transfer Protocol; the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.

Deep Dive

HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. It is an application-layer protocol that governs how clients, such as web browsers, and servers communicate to exchange information. When you type a URL into your browser, HTTP is the protocol that facilitates the request to the server for the specified webpage or resource and carries the server's response back to your browser for display.

Examples & Use Cases

1Typing "www.example.com" into a web browser initiates an HTTP GET request to retrieve the homepage content from the example.com server.
2Submitting a login form on an e-commerce website sends an HTTP POST request containing your username and password to the server for authentication.

Related Terms

HTTPSTCP/IPURLClient-Server Model