HTTP Meaning Explained: What does HTTP Stand For

Definition of HTTP: HTTP Meaning Explained
HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is a communications protocol that facilitates the transfer of information on the Internet. It is a request-response protocol between clients and servers. Clients are web users or web browsers, while the responding server that stores or creates the resources requested is known as the origin server. HTTP can be implemented on any of the Internet protocols. However, the TCP/IP protocol suite is most popularly used. An HTTP client establishes a TCP connection with the host. Port 80 is the default port used for the establishment of this connection between the client and the server using HTTP. On receiving the request, the server replies with a status line, a message and the requested resource.

Appearing at the beginning of every web page address, HTTP defines the standard mechanism for the exchange of application-level messages between devices on the web. All the web services run over this protocol. HTTPS is a slight variation of HTTP, wherein the browser adds an encryption layer to protect the Internet traffic.

The World Wide Web Consortium and the Internet Engineering Task Force worked towards the development of HTTP. This protocol is used for the retrieval of interlinked text documents hosted by the web and for accessing resources over the web using uniform resource locators (URL). How does HTTP work? You will find the details of the working of this protocol in HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

To delve deeper into the subject, you may like to go through,

• Computer Networking
• Basic Internet Terms and Terminology