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HTTP Basics

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Building a Case for HTTP

2:41 with Chris Ramacciotti

The internet consists of a vast array of highly-connected devices spanning the entire globe. To ensure that any two devices can communicate, it was necessary to develop a common set of rules - or protocol - to facilitate dependable communication.

Now you might be asking yourself, why do we need a set of rules for 0:00
two devices to talk to each other? 0:04
Aren't rules limiting? 0:06
Well, think about the way we hold phone conversations with family or friends. 0:08
The nature of your conversations probably varies widely from making dinner plans to 0:12
expressing sympathy from a loss, to catching up after a year or 0:17
two of losing touch. 0:21
However, all of these conversations probably follow a set of conventions. 0:23
First, there's some sort of greeting. 0:28
Hello? 0:30
Hi Courtney, this is Chris. 0:31
Or some variation of that. 0:33
What follows is a series of comments and sequence. 0:35
As in, one person talks, then the other, but 0:37
never at the same time where neither person is heard by the other. 0:41
And if a question is asked, well, a response quickly follows. 0:44
Unless there's no response, which can be unexpected or just plain awkward. 0:48
Both people know the conversation is over when each person says, goodbye or 0:53
talk to you soon. 0:57
Communication between devices over the internet is not 0:59
unlike spoken language over the phone. 1:02
Except that there are even more rules, to make sure machines don't end up 1:04
guessing what question was asked or what answer was given. 1:08
You might equate this rigid communication environment to a court room. 1:11
Where the judge won't response to an attorney shouting, hey or 1:15
no you didn't, but would respond to a simple objection. 1:18
Likewise, in internet communication word choice matters. 1:24
If the internet was going to be successful, 1:29
it required a set of standards for device communication. 1:31
That is, communication between the devices that contain the information and 1:34
the devices that wish to interact with it. 1:38
So, when Tim Berners-Lee and his team proposed the World Wide Web project 1:41
in 1989, what soon followed was the first published version of HTTP. 1:45
This was HTTP 0.9 in 1991. 1:50
The HyperText Transfer Protocol is the set of rules that 1:53
governs the messaging between devices over the Internet. 1:58
It functions mainly as a request-response cycle between a client and a server. 2:01
That is, a client makes a request and a server responds. 2:07
Examples of clients are a web browser, such as Chrome or Safari, 2:11
a native mobile app on iOS or Android like the Facebook app on your phone. 2:15
Or even a in a desktop weather application like one written in JavaFX. 2:19
The main example of a server is a web server such as Apache, 2:23
Nginx and Node.js server or even a Java enabled web server like Tomcat. 2:28
After a quick break let's see HTTP in action 2:34
using a simple text-based tool called Telnet. 2:37