HTTP Request Methods

HTTP Request Methods

• HTTP request methods indicate the desired action to be performed for a given resource, which can be retrieve, delete, update, or insert an item or multiple items.
• Each request method has a different semantic, and some of them share common features.

GET Method

• GET method is used to retrieve data (single item or multiple items).
• It displays the submitted input values in the URL, which can be cached or bookmarked.
• Submitted values can be:
  • Query string (e.g., http://example.com/page/items?param1=value1&param2=value1)
  • Path Parameters (Segments) (e.g., http://example.com/page/items/value1/value2)
  • Both (e.g., http://example.com/page/items/value/?param1=value1&param2=value2)
• Usually used with tracking services.

POST Method

• POST method is used to send data to a server to create/update a resource or changing a resource’s state.
• Submitted data is stored in the request’s body.
• POST data cannot be cached or bookmarked.
• There are no restrictions on data length or type.

Other HTTP Request Methods

• PUT: used to send data to a server to create/update a resource.
• HEAD: almost identical to GET, but without the response body.
• DELETE: deletes the specified resource.
• PATCH: used to apply partial modifications to a resource.
• OPTIONS: describes the communication options for the target resource.
• CONNECT: used to start a two-way communications (a tunnel) with the requested resource.
• TRACE: used to perform a message loop-back test that tests the path for the target resource (useful for debugging purposes).

Resources

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Methods
• https://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_httpmethods.asp