Encyclopedia / Domain & network
HTTP
The request–response language browsers and servers speak.
A request has a method (GET to read, POST to send), a path, headers and an optional body. A response has a status code, headers and a body. HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 send many requests over one connection, which is why lots of small files are less costly than they used to be.
GET /work HTTP/2
Host: example.com
Accept: text/html
HTTP/2 200
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Cache-Control: public, max-age=0, must-revalidateRelated terms
Where it shows up in a page load
- Step 4: HTTP request. The browser sends GET /work with headers: which languages it accepts, which compression it understands and any cookies. The edge checks its cache.
Watch the full request journey →
More in Domain & network
How a name like example.com turns into a secure connection to a real machine.