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Chapter 4

Speaking Clearly

Metaphor: A shared language / ordering from a menu Mental image: “We both know how this conversation works.”

Key Ideas

This chapter reveals HTTP — not as a scary acronym, but as the agreement that makes web conversations possible.

Core concepts to cover:

  1. Protocols are just agreements

    • Two strangers can communicate if they agree on the rules
    • HTTP is the rulebook for web conversations
    • It defines how to ask, how to answer, and what to include

  2. Why boring rules are powerful

    • Because everyone follows the same format, any browser can talk to any server
    • This universality is why the web scaled
    • Contrast with proprietary systems that only work with their own tools

  3. The anatomy of an HTTP request

    • Method: what you want to do (GET = “give me”, POST = “take this”)
    • Path: what you’re asking for (/index.html)
    • Headers: extra context (who you are, what you accept)
    • Body: sometimes you send data too (forms, uploads)

  4. The anatomy of an HTTP response

    • Status line: success or failure
    • Headers: metadata about the response
    • Body: the actual content

  5. HTTP is text-based (at heart)

    • You could, in theory, type an HTTP request by hand
    • This transparency is a feature — it’s inspectable, debuggable
    • Show a simple example of what a raw request looks like

  6. Verbs have meaning

    • GET: retrieve (safe, repeatable)
    • POST: submit (might change things)
    • PUT, DELETE, PATCH: other intentions
    • The verb tells the server your intent before it even reads the rest

Tone for this chapter

Matter-of-fact but appreciative. HTTP isn’t glamorous, but its simplicity is what made the web possible. Like a well-designed form at a government office — boring, but it works because everyone fills it out the same way.

Bridge to Chapter 5

Now we know how browsers and servers talk. But what if you don’t want every request going straight to your server? What if you want something in between — checking, filtering, routing? That’s where the reverse proxy comes in.

Status: Work in progress