HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is used to access data on the WWW (World Wide Web). It is a protocol which governs the communication between the client and server.

There are three important features of HTTP:

i. HTTP is Connectionless

After a request is made, the client disconnects from the server and waits for a response. The server must re-establish the connection after it processes the request.

ii. HTTP is Media Independent

Any type of data can be sent by HTTP as long as both the client and server know how to handle the data content.

iii. HTTP is Stateless

This is a direct result of HTTP being connectionless. The server and client are aware of each other only during a request. Afterwards, each forgets the other. For this reason neither the client now the browser can retain information between different requests across the web pages.

Working:

i. A browser contacts a server to establish a TCP connection with it.

ii. The HTTP software on the client sends a request to the server. The HTTP software on the server interprets this request and sends the response to the client.

iii. HTTP Commands:

a. GET : Request by a client to obtain a web page from the server.

b. PUT : Request by a client to store a web page on the server.

c. POST : Request by a client to update contents of a web page on the server.

d. DELETE: Request by a client to remove a web page from the server.