Http Methods

Characteristics of each Http method

• GET

  • Requests to retrieve a specific resource

  • GET requests should only be used when fetching data

• POST

  • Sends data to the server

  • The type of the Request Body is indicated by the Content-Type header

  • The difference between PUT and POST is idempotency; PUT has idempotency

    • PUT produces the same effect whether sent once or multiple times (no side effects)

  • Sends data to the server through the Message body

  • Primarily used when creating new resources

• PUT

  • Uses the request payload to create a new resource or replace the data representing the target resource

  • Has idempotency

• PATCH

  • Used when partially modifying a resource

  • Not idempotent

  • PATCH or POST may cause side-effects on other resources

• DELETE

  • Deletes the specified resource

• HEAD

  • Requests the Header that would be returned if a specific resource were requested with a GET method

  • Responses to a HEAD method must not have a Body, and even if a Body exists, it must be ignored

  • Used for health checks of web services or to obtain web server information

• OPTIONS

  • Used to set communication options with the target resource

• TRACE

  • Used for loopback testing

• CONNECT

  • A method that initiates bidirectional communication with the requested resource

    • Can be used to open a tunnel

  • ex) Can be used to access a web site using SSL (HTTPS)

    • The Client requests the HTTP proxy server to establish a TCP connection with the desired destination

    • The server then proceeds to create the connection on behalf of the client

    • Once the connection is established by the server, the proxy server continues to proxy the TCP stream going to and from the client