HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used to transfer data over the World Wide Web. It is the foundation of data communication on the internet, and it defines how messages are formatted and transmitted between web servers and web clients, such as web browsers.
HTTP is a request-response protocol, which means that a client sends a request to a web server, and the server responds with a message that contains the requested content. The client sends a request by specifying the HTTP method (such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE), the URL of the resource, and any additional information that the server needs to process the request.
The server responds with an HTTP status code, which indicates whether the request was successful or not, and a message that contains the requested content, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or images. HTTP also supports other types of data formats, such as JSON and XML, which are commonly used in APIs and web services.
In addition to the basic request-response cycle, HTTP also includes several other features, such as cookies, caching, and encryption, that are used to enhance the performance, security, and functionality of web applications and services.
HTTP is an open standard, which means that its specifications and implementations are freely available for anyone to use and improve. It is continuously evolving to meet the changing needs of the web, and new versions of the protocol are regularly released to improve performance, security, and functionality. The latest version of HTTP is HTTP/2.0, which was released in 2015.