Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “What is HTTP?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)**HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)** is an **application-layer protocol** that defines how a client and a server exchange data over the internet. In simple terms, it is the language browsers (or applications) and servers use to talk to each other. **Key point:** HTTP works on a "request → response" scheme, is a stateless protocol, and the request is always initiated by the client.Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)Image**HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)** is an **application-layer protocol** that defines **how a client and a server exchange data over the internet**. In simple terms: **HTTP is the language browsers (or applications) and servers use to talk to each other**. --- ## Why HTTP is needed HTTP is needed so that: - a client can **request data** (a page, a file, API data) - a server can **understand the request** - a server can **return a result** to the client Without HTTP, a browser would not know: - how to properly ask for a page - how the server should respond - how to tell whether there was an error --- ## How HTTP works (very simply) HTTP works on this scheme: **request → response** 1. The client (browser, application) sends an **HTTP request** 2. The server receives the request 3. The server processes it 4. The server sends an **HTTP response** 5. The client uses the data it received --- ## What can be transferred over HTTP HTTP can transfer: - HTML pages - JSON and XML (API) - images - files - form data HTTP does not care what is inside the data: it just describes the rules of transfer. --- ## Key properties of HTTP ### 1. Application layer HTTP works at the **application layer of the OSI model** and uses the lower layers (TCP/IP) to deliver data. --- ### 2. Stateless HTTP is a **stateless protocol**: - the server does not remember previous requests - each request is processed independently - all the needed information is passed in the request --- ### 3. The client is always the initiator - the client **always sends the request first** - the server **only responds** A server never sends HTTP data on its own. --- ## Real-life example When you type a site's address: - the browser sends an HTTP request: "Give me this page" - the server responds with an HTTP response: "Here is the page, status: success" - the browser displays the page --- ## Short answer for an interview Remember this handy wording: > **HTTP is an application-layer protocol that defines the rules for exchanging data between a client and a server over the internet and is used to transfer web pages and API requests.**For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.