| Stands for
Hypertext Transfer Protocol. In simple terms, it tells computers how
they should be talking to each other. You'll notice that
addresses of web pages begin with http://
most of the time. HTTP
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set of rules for transferring
files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia
files) on the World Wide Web. As soon as a Web user opens their Web
browser, the user is indirectly making use of HTTP. HTTP is an
application protocol that runs on top of the TCP/IP suite of
protocols (the foundation protocols for the Internet).
HTTP concepts include (as the
Hypertext part of the name implies) the idea that files can contain
references to other files whose selection will elicit additional
transfer requests. Any Web server machine contains, in addition to
the Web page files it can serve, an HTTP daemon, a program that is
designed to wait for HTTP requests and handle them when they arrive.
Your Web browser is an HTTP client, sending requests to server
machines. When the browser user enters file requests by either
"opening" a Web file (typing in a Uniform Resource Locator or URL)
or clicking on a hypertext link, the browser builds an HTTP request
and sends it to the Internet Protocol address (IP address) indicated
by the URL. The HTTP daemon in the destination server machine
receives the request and sends back the requested file or files
associated with the request. (A Web page often consists of more than
one file.) |
