What is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol?
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the networking communication language used on the World Wide Web to exchange text, graphics, sound, and other types of data and services. HTTP transfers data between globally linked computers in plain text. A secure version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) instructs Web browsers to encrypt communication streams to protect sensitive information. HTTPS is used for all commerce, banking, and other services where a secure link is required. The invention of HTTP and the World Wide Web is credited to MIT English physicist, Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (“Tim” Berners-Lee). Berners-Lee proposed the idea in March 1989, and in December 1990, he and his team successfully exchanged data between networked computers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTP operates on the client-server model, where the server is a computer on the Internet hosting a website or data bank, and the client is a computer requesting inform...