RESTful Java Web Services - Third Edition

Representing content types using HTTP header fields

When we discussed the HTTP request-response model in the Understanding the HTTP request-response model section, we talked about the HTTP header parameters (the name-value pairs) that define the operating parameters of an HTTP transaction. In this section, we will cover the header parameter used for describing the content types present in the request and the response message body.

The Content-Type header in an HTTP request or response describes the content type for the message body. The Accept header in the request tells the server the content types that the client is expecting in the response body. The content types are represented using the internet media type. The internet media type (also ...