GET vs POST Request:
The Difference Between HTTP Methods

HTTP methods GET and POST are the most common ways to send or receive data from a server. But in different cases, both methods can be unsafe or inconvenient to use. In this article, we will consider which method to use when.

GET Method

GET is used to receive data from the server. To create a request, enter any URL of the site in the browser address bar. For example, https://nativerest.net/echo/get. The client, that is, our browser, having received this URL, will generate an HTTP request and transmit the following information packet to the server:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: nativerest.net
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) Gecko/20853 Firefox 20.0
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: ru-RU,ru;q=0.8,en-US;q=0.5,en;q=0.3
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate

POST Method

Unlike the GET method, which is used to retrieve data, POST is used to send it to the server. In this case, it is transmitted not with the URL, but in the body of the HTTP request. Therefore, it cannot be seen in the browser search bar, browsing history, or cache.

Definition:

GET request is a type of HTTP request method used to request data from a specified resource. GET requests are commonly used to retrieve information from a server. They are designed for querying, searching, or fetching information without modifying any resources on the server. GET method example:

POST requests are used to pass and submit data to be processed by the server. They are commonly used for creating, updating, or deleting resources, such as creating a new user account or updating some forms. POST method example:

Request Body:

• GET requests include all required data in the URL itself, appended as query parameters. For example: https://example.com/products?category=electronics&sort=price.
• POST requests carry the data in the request body, separate from the URL. This allows for larger amounts of data to be transmitted, including binary data like files or complex data structures like JSON or XML. For example, when submitting a form, the form data would be sent in the request body of a POST request.

Common Usage:

• GET requests are commonly used for retrieving data from a server or resource, where the requested data is passed as query parameters in the URL.
• POST requests are commonly used for submitting HTML forms on web pages, file uploads, and for making complex API requests where the data being sent is not easily represented in a URL.

Conclusion

In summary, use GET when you want to retrieve data and use POST when you want to submit data. GET is often used for simple data retrieval, like fetching a web page, while POST is used for more complex operations, such as submitting a form or uploading a file. NativeRest is an all-in-one API tool. With NativeRest, you can easily create and manage API projects, collaborate with team members, generate documentation, and monitor API performance, all from a single interface.

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