What is HTTP, how does it work on the web?

What is HTTP?
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set of rules for transferring files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

Hypertext means text that contains a reference to another file and by clicking on it,it will start a transfer request to the referenced file. The referenced files can also contain links to other files.
Your web server hold your webpage files and have a program called an HTTP daemon, handling HTTP requests as they come in from people wanting to see your pages.

Let say Mack wants to look at Sarah's home page. He types in her URL (Uniform Resource Locator = Sarah's online street address) on his Firefox (or Internet Explorer, etc) browser and hit enter. His browser is the HTTP client sending a HTTP request to the IP Address (Internet Protocol) linked to the URL he typed. Sarah's server use the HTTP daemon on it to recieve this request and send her home page back to Mack.
It also send all the other files on that particular page such as images, embedded files such as Flash or videos, and other files normally showing on a webpage. That means Mack may get 6 hits when only one page is looked at. When Mack clicks on her second page button, the same process happens all over again.

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