What does HTTP stand for?

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the application-layer protocol that enables communication between web clients and servers.

When you open a webpage, your browser sends an HTTP request asking for resources such as HTML, images, stylesheets, or video. The web server replies with a response containing the requested content or a status code explaining what happened. This request-response model is why HTTP is central to browsing the Web.

The “hypertext” part refers to documents connected by hyperlinks, while “transfer” describes the movement of resources between computers. Tim Berners-Lee developed the early Web and HTTP at CERN; the first web server went live around 1990, and HTTP/0.9 initially supported only the GET method for retrieving HTML pages.

HTTP is often confused with HTML. HTML is a markup language used to structure webpages; HTTP is the communication protocol used to deliver them. HTTPS is the encrypted version of HTTP, commonly used for logins, payments, and other private data.