HTTP

What is HTTP?

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP is a protocol for switching and sending hypertext. HTTP is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. Hypertext is the type of structured text that works with logical links or hyperlinks between nodes containing the text. Most messaging integrations, including BSG's SMS API, run over HTTP.

HTTPS is the outcome of layering the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) on top of the SSL/TLS protocol, connecting the security ability of SSL/TLS to standard HTTP communications. It defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.

This request-response pattern is exactly what a messaging API uses under the hood to accept a send request and return a delivery status. BSG covers this in more depth in How Does the SMS API Work and What Are the Benefits?.

How does it work?

HTTP works as a request-response protocol in the client-server computing model. How it looks: the client submits an HTTP request message to the server. The server, which stores resources such as HTML files and other types of content and other functions for the client, returns a response message to the client. The response has completion status information about the request and may also contain requested content in the message body.