- What is the http protocol?
- What is the http protocol for?
- How does the http protocol work?
- What is https?
We explain what http is and and what this protocol is for. Also, how it works, differences between http and https protocol.
What is the http protocol?
The http (from English HyperText Transfer Protocol o Hyper Texts Transfer Protocol) is the information transmission protocol of the world Wide Web, that is, the code that is established so that the computer Applicant and the one containing the requested information can “speak” the same language when transmitting information through the net.
With http criteria are established syntax Y semantics computing (form and meaning) for the establishment of the communication between the different elements that make up the web architecture: servers, clients, proxies. It was created in 1999 by the World Wide Web Consortium in collaboration with the Internet Engineering Task Force.
It is a “stateless” protocol, that is, it does not keep track of previous visits but always starts over. Information regarding previous visits is stored in these systems in so-called "cookies", stored in the system. client.
The http has gone through numerous versions until reaching the current one at the beginning of the 21st century, called HTTP / 2. Its first attempts occurred in 1991 and produced partial versions in 1996, 1999, 2000 and, finally, the current one in 2015.
What is the http protocol for?
The http, as has been said, is a language that mediates between the client's requests and the server's responses in the Internet, to allow fluent communication and in the same "language". East protocol establishes the guidelines to follow, the methods of request (called "verbs") and has some flexibility to incorporate new requests and functionalities, especially as their versions progress.
Considering that the Internet is little more than a complex network for the exchange of information between remote computers, these types of digital tools are key in establishing the bases for ordering and facilitating the transmission of information.
How does the http protocol work?
The operation of http is based on a request-response scheme between the web server and the “user agent” (from the English user agent) or client making the request for transmission of data. A client can be a certain browser, when we try to open a Web page, or web crawlers (webcrawlers or web spiders) who inspect them.
The server provides them with a structured response in a timely manner and equipped with a series of metadata, which establishes the guidelines for the start, development and closure of the transmission of information. These are the “request methods”, that is, the commands that trigger the execution of certain resources, whose files reside on the server.
For example: When opening a specific web page, the information exchange between our web browser and the server where the information resides will establish how the information should be transmitted, where the images are and in what order they will be shown to me, etc. This exchange of request commands and response codes results in the representation on my computer of the same information originally contained on the server, which may be thousands of miles away.
What is https?
For https HyperText Transfer Procotol Secure or Secure Transfer Protocol of Hypertext, which is nothing more than the secure version of http, that is, a variant of the same protocol that is based on the creation of an encrypted channel for the transmission of information, which makes it more appropriate for certain sensitive data ( as keys and users personal).
Unlike http, https is protected against the intervention of third parties that may spy on the exchange of information or obtain data from it, through the use of "network layers" that allow only the server and the client to encrypt and decrypt the information sent through the previous exchange of network certificates, a kind of initial validation of trust to establish the transfer of information.