What is HTTP?
HTTP, short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the set of rules that browsers, web apps, and servers follow to exchange files over the internet. Think of it as the language of the internet.
The internet, as we know it, is a group of web clients and servers communicating with one another.
- Web clients are the software we use to connect to the server. E.g., browsers and web apps.
- Servers are databases that contain the resources our web client is trying to access. E.g., mail servers.
When a browser or web app needs to access a resource, say an email, it sends an HTTP request to the mail server, asking the server to send it the email. The server then responds with another HTTP request containing the email.
In the event that the server is unable to send the request, it sends an HTTP message informing the client why it cannot fulfill the request.