What is HTTP?

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the foundation of data communication on the World Wide Web. It is a protocol for fetching resources such as HTML documents. It functions as a request-response protocol in the client-server computing model. A web browser, for instance, may be the client and an application running on a computer hosting a website may be the server. The client submits an HTTP request message to the server. The server, in turn, provides resources such as HTML files or performs other functions on behalf of the client, returning an HTTP response message to the client. This response contains completion status information about the request and may also contain the content requested in its message body.