Definition: HTTP

(HyperText Transfer Protocol) The communications protocol used to connect to Web servers or to intranets on local networks. The primary function of HTTP is to establish a connection with the server and send HTML pages back to the user's browser. HTTP is also used to download data from the server either to the browser or any requesting application.

HTTP Secure (HTTPS)
HTTPS (HTTP Secure) is the encrypted version of HTTP and is generally mandatory today (see HTTPS). Web browsers typically default to HTTPS; for example, typing www.yahoo.com is the same as typing https://www.yahoo.com. In fact, only yahoo.com has to be typed in. The browser adds the rest.

A Stateless Connection
HTTP is a "stateless" request/response system. The connection is maintained between client and server only for the immediate request, and the connection is closed. After the HTTP client establishes a TCP connection with the server and sends it a request command, the server sends back its response and closes the connection.

The first version of HTTP caused considerable overhead. Each time an image file on the page was requested, a new protocol connection had to be established between browser and server. With HTTP Version 1.1, multiple files can be downloaded over the same connection. HTTP/1.1 also improved caching and made it easier to create multiple websites on the same server, known as "virtual hosts." See HTTP/3, HTTP header and cookie.

Web Server Fundamentals

Browsers communicate with servers via the TCP/IP protocol. The browser sends HTTP requests to the server, which responds by sending back headers (messages) and files (HTML Web pages, images and videos). See HTTP header and TCP/IP.

HTTP Links Can Be Lonnnnnnnnnng
An HTTP request can point to any Web page on any Web server, and the actual address can be very short or extremely long. Although the following address example seems ridiculous, its length does not matter. HTTP will deliver the content to the user if the address is valid. See Bitly.

 https://issuesinsights.com/2023/03/28/evs-are-the
   -yugo-of-the-21st-century/?bsft_aaid=a4679c91
   -eb03-4591-93c2-79b7f25f9cbd&bsft_eid=943ef7a8
   -c11e-4113-b34d-b3bbb6eeaa8a&bsft_clkid=cc1c27e1
   -cb4b-499b-8dda-666c1dbba451&bsft_uid=09982940
   -edba-4e12-9b9f-3063a1d511ca&bsft_mid=3a3e24d3
   -7d55-40ea-bbf2-d88207a832fe&bsft_utid=09982940
   -edba-4e12-9b9f-3063a1d511caDRPROOF&bsft_mime_t
   ype=html&bsft_ek=2023-03-31T15%3A50%3A43Z&bsft_l
   x=16&bsft_tv=3&pk=48b4cc72132e0cbcbd3ee75538463b
   96&vid2=1c764ee3897bc84adced106608b233478309b510
   c74e0d4fb32fd6f507464d818cb446027890ebc8b080b885
   e0d8cfdd030be680d5c7259994ccd143569e3701