When we visit any website we see some prefixes such as HTTP or HTTPS in front of the domain. Do you know what it means or what is the HTTP Full Form? If not, keep scrolling to gather more information about HTTP. In this article, we are going to discuss HTTP and later we will learn about the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.
HTTP Full Form
H-HYPER
T-TEXT
T-TRANSFER
P-PROTOCOL
What Is HyperText Transfer Protocol?
HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a protocol that helps your (user server) to connect with external links or web servers. Basically, HTTP is a type of protocol that helps to transfer data over the web. It is a part of the internet protocol suite that defines commands and services which is used for transmitting webpage data. For example, when a user does a request on a web browser and connects with his/her respected request all of this has done with HYPERTEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL.

HTTP is a server-client model. A client may be a home computer, laptop, mobile device, or maybe an extra device that helps to connect with another network or groups of networks. HTTP (HTTP Full Form HyperText Transfer Protocol) is also known for GET and POST command that is used to control form submission on websites. The HTTP Server is a web host running web software, such as IIS (Internet Information Services) or Apache Server.
Internet Information Services(IIS) – IIS is a flexible web server software that is created by Microsoft. IIS is used with the Window NT familiar (Window NT is an operating system that was produced by Microsoft on July 27, 1993).The IIS server software supports HTTP,HTTPS,HTTP/2,NNTP,SMTP and FTPS.
Apache Server – Apache Server is also web server application software that helps to deliver the content of HTML (HyperText Markup Language) page, Multimedia at the internet, and CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) style sheets over the internet.
How HTTP Works?
Let’s see, how it works – When a user server wants to access a website, the user’s browser sends a request to the corresponding web server and it will respond with a HyperText Transfer Protocol status code. When the User’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is acceptable and the connection is allowed, then the user’s browser got the webpage and related files by the webserver.

What may be code status:-
- CODE 200– In this code, the request will be accepted(the webpage that was searched by the user, exists).
- CODE 301– In this type of code, the server will permanently move user requests (sometimes it forwards you to a new URL).
- CODE 401– In this type of code the server will not accept the user’s request or it may be an unauthorized request (When a user requests for a URL it should be authorized).
- CODE 403– If you show this type of code that means your request has been banned for some unnatural reason (This means the user’s request is not allowed to find the page of the directory).
- CODE 500– This is an error code that shows an error response to the user’s request. This means something has gone wrong or it can be an issue with outdated resources or corrupted cache and cookies data.
Difference Between HTTP And HTTPS
HTTP | HTTPS | |
URL | http:// | https:// |
Safety | Unsecured | Secured |
Port | Sends data over port 80 | sends data over port 443 |
Layer | Operates at Application Layer | Operates at Transport Layer |
SSL Certificates | Not required | Required |
Encryption | No encryption in HTTP | data is encrypted before sending |
Note:- When a URL(Uniform Resource Locator) is started with http:// That’s mean the server is accessed over the standard HTTP((Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and this is using port 80 by default.
OR
When a URL is started with https:// that’s mean the server is accessed over the secure HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) and worked with port 443.
Advantages And Disadvantages of HTTP
HTTP is basically a web transfer protocol that works on the application layer. As such, it establishes insecure connections so it has some advantages and disadvantages which are given below.
Advantages of HTTP:
- Lower CPU and Less Memory usage are required for HTTP.
- The handshaking process takes place in HTTP that reduces latency in the connection.
Disadvantages of HTTP:
- A point-to-point connection is possible in HTTP.
- It is not optimized for mobiles.
I hope you understand the HTTP full form and how https works. If you have still any queries regarding HTTP, feel free to ask us through the comment section. Thanks!