What is HTTP?
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is designed to enable communications between clients and servers.
HTTP works as a request-response protocol between a client and server.
Example: A client (browser) sends an HTTP request to the server; then the server returns a response to the client. The response contains status information about the request and may also contain the requested content.
HTTP Methods
- GET
- POST
- PUT
- HEAD
- DELETE
- PATCH
- OPTIONS
- CONNECT
- TRACE
The two most common HTTP methods are: GET and POST.
The GET Method
GET is used to request data from a specified resource.
Note that the query string (name/value pairs) is sent in the URL of a GET request:
/test/demo_form.php?name1=value1&name2=value2
Some notes on GET requests:
- GET requests can be cached
- GET requests remain in the browser history
- GET requests can be bookmarked
- GET requests should never be used when dealing with sensitive data
- GET requests have length restrictions
- GET requests are only used to request data (not modify)
The POST Method
POST is used to send data to a server to create/update a resource.
The data sent to the server with POST is stored in the request body of the HTTP request:
POST /test/demo_form.php HTTP/1.1
Host: w3schools.com
name1=value1&name2=value2
Some notes on POST requests:
- POST requests are never cached
- POST requests do not remain in the browser history
- POST requests cannot be bookmarked
- POST requests have no restrictions on data length
Compare GET vs. POST
The following table compares the two HTTP methods: GET and POST.
| | GET | POST |
|---|
| BACK button/Reload | Harmless | Data will be re-submitted (the browser should alert the user that the data are about to be re-submitted) |
| Bookmarked | Can be bookmarked | Cannot be bookmarked |
| Cached | Can be cached | Not cached |
| Encoding type | application/x-www-form-urlencoded | application/x-www-form-urlencoded or multipart/form-data. Use multipart encoding for binary data |
| History | Parameters remain in browser history | Parameters are not saved in browser history |
| Restrictions on data length | Yes, when sending data, the GET method adds the data to the URL; and the length of a URL is limited (maximum URL length is 2048 characters) | No restrictions |
| Restrictions on data type | Only ASCII characters allowed | No restrictions. Binary data is also allowed |
| Security | GET is less secure compared to POST because data sent is part of the URL
Never use GET when sending passwords or other sensitive information! | POST is a little safer than GET because the parameters are not stored in browser history or in web server logs |
| Visibility | Data is visible to everyone in the URL | Data is not displayed in the URL |
