HTTP methods are designed to enable communication between the client and the server via requests and responses. Each method specifies a particular action to be performed on the resource identified by a given Request-URI. Here’s a quick reference to all standard HTTP methods and their primary use cases.
| HTTP Method | Description |
|---|---|
| GET | Retrieves data from the server (should only retrieve data and should have no other effect). |
| HEAD | Similar to GET, but it retrieves only the status line and header section without the response body. |
| POST | Sends data to the server to create a new resource. It is often used when uploading a file or submitting a completed form. |
| PUT | Replaces all current representations of the target resource with the uploaded content. |
| DELETE | Removes all current representations of the target resource given by a URI. |
| PATCH | Applies partial modifications to a resource. |
| OPTIONS | Returns the HTTP methods that the server supports for a specific URL. |
| CONNECT | Converts the request connection to a transparent TCP/IP tunnel, usually to facilitate SSL-encrypted communication (HTTPS) through an unencrypted HTTP proxy. |
| TRACE | Performs a message loop-back test along the path to the target resource, providing a useful debugging mechanism. |