Building Scalable and High-Performance Java™ Web Applications Using J2EE™ Technology

The HTTP Protocol

HTTP is a request/reply protocol that is the basis for most communication on the Internet. It has evolved into a de facto standard of network-independent communication, much like Java is a language for platform-independent computing. Through HTTP, two programs can communicate without having to worry about the complexities of the lower-level network protocols and the physical infrastructure that connects them.

HTTP is a message-based protocol in the sense that communication between client and server consists of readable text (i.e., plain text). Instead of directives being phrased in ones and zeroes (bits), as in binary protocols (such as Java RMI and CORBA IIOP), HTTP requests and replies look like brief, readable notes. Here's ...