What you will learn
- Read HTTP methods and status codes
- Explain the TLS handshake
- Inspect headers
New to this? Start here
The basics, in plain English
When you open a website, your browser sends a request and the server sends back a response. The rules for that conversation are called HTTP. HTTPS is the same thing but encrypted so nobody can read it in transit.
- Request
- The message your browser sends asking for a page or some data.
- Response
- The message the server sends back, usually the page plus a status code.
- Method (GET/POST)
- The verb of a request: GET fetches data, POST sends data to create something.
- Status code
- A 3-digit result: 200 means OK, 404 means not found, 500 means the server broke.
- HTTPS
- HTTP wrapped in encryption, so the data is scrambled to anyone listening in between.
- TLS
- The technology that does the encrypting and proves the site is really who it claims to be.
01
HTTP
Stateless request/response over TCP. Methods (GET, POST...) and status codes (2xx, 4xx, 5xx) carry meaning you must know cold.
02
TLS
TLS wraps HTTP in encryption via a handshake that negotiates keys and verifies certificates. This is HTTPS.
Try it yourself
bash
$curl -v https://example.com↳Make a request and print the full request/response, including TLS details.$openssl s_client -connect example.com:443↳Open a raw TLS connection to inspect the certificate and handshake.$curl -w "%{http_code}" -o /dev/null -s url↳Print only the HTTP status code, discarding the body.↳ lines explain what each command does — only the commands get copied
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