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Vipul Kumar
Vipul Kumar

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8. The Journey of Data in a Web Application

🌐 Internet β€” The internet is the network that allows clients and servers to exchange information. It acts as the medium through which requests and responses travel.

πŸ–₯️ Client β€” In web interactions, the client is typically a web browser that sends requests to a server. The client initiates the communication by sending an HTTP request.

πŸ—„οΈ Server β€” The server receives requests from the client and processes them to generate a response. It acts as the producer of the requested information.

πŸ”„ HTTP Request/Response Cycle β€” This cycle involves the client sending a request to the server, which processes it and sends back a response. This is the fundamental process of web communication.

πŸ“œ HTTP Verbs β€” Common HTTP verbs include GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE, which define the action to be performed on the resource identified by the URI.

HTTP Request Components

πŸ”€ URL β€” The Uniform Resource Locator specifies the address of the resource on the web. It is a key component of the HTTP request.

πŸ” Verb β€” The HTTP verb indicates the action to be performed, such as GET for retrieving data or POST for submitting data.

πŸ›€οΈ Path β€” The path specifies the specific resource being requested, such as '/tasks' or '/items/6/reviews'.

πŸ“„ Headers β€” These provide additional information about the request, such as content type and authentication details.

πŸ“¦ Body β€” In some requests, especially POST and PUT, the body contains data to be sent to the server.

Server Processing Steps

πŸ”Œ Connection β€” The server accepts the connection from the client, often through a TCP handshake.

πŸ“ Parsing β€” The server parses the HTTP request to understand the client's needs.

πŸ” Authentication β€” The server may authenticate the request to ensure it is from a legitimate source.

πŸ—„οΈ Data Retrieval β€” The server retrieves the requested data from its database or other resources.

πŸ› οΈ Processing β€” The server processes the data, applying any necessary business logic or transformations.

HTTP Response Details

πŸ“œ Status Code β€” The response includes a status code indicating the result of the request, such as 200 for success or 404 for not found.

πŸ“„ Headers β€” Response headers provide metadata about the response, such as content type and length.

πŸ“¦ Body β€” The body contains the actual data requested by the client, such as HTML, JSON, or XML.

πŸ”„ Caching β€” Responses may include caching directives to optimize future requests.

πŸ”’ Security β€” Responses may include security headers to protect against threats like cross-site scripting.

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