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TCP/IP Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
The success of the World
Wide Web is a result of the efficiency
and usefulness of the complete hypermedia system it implements. We examined
in the
last section the basic concepts behind
hypertext, and looked at two of the three major components that comprise
the World Wide Web system: HTML
and URLs.
The third major component of the Web is arguably the most important:
the protocol that actually transfers hypertext documents and other files
between Web servers and Web clients (browsers). This is one of the most
widely-known software protocols in all of networking: the Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
In this section I provide a detailed
description of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. I begin with an overview
of HTTP and a discussion of its history and versions, and the standards
that define them. I then describe the operation of the protocol in five
subsections. The first discusses HTTP's operation in general terms,
focusing on how connections are established and maintained. The second
describes HTTP messages and how they are formatted, and describes HTTP
methods (commands) and status codes. The third details the many HTTP
headers, which are critically important as they are the primary way
that information is communicated between HTTP servers and clients. The
fourth subsection provides information about how resources, called entities,
are encoded and transferred in HTTP. The final subsection describes
special features and capabilities of the modern HTTP protocol.
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Quick navigation to subsections and regular topics in this section
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The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005
© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.
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Background Information: Like so many TCP/IP protocols, when HTTP was designed, its creators “borrowed” elements from other application protocols. In this case, HTTP uses certain elements from e-mail, especially the