The Dialogue: The HTTP Protocol
Learn HTTP like a language - from basic message structure to headers to APIs, file uploads, and more. Master the protocol that powers every web interaction, and begin to see how trust is negotiated, assumed, broken, and rebuilt. One header at a time.
What HTTP Really Is
Here we'll warm up by taking a look at the protocol at a very high level, before delving into the details in subsequent lessons.
Inside HTTP Messages
Now that you understand what HTTP is, let's look under the hood. In this lesson, we'll dissect the anatomy of HTTP requests and responses.
Headers Are Context and Cues
In this lesson, you'll learn more about headers, discover how servers make trust decisions based on them, and start thinking about how one might influence those decisions through careful header crafting.
Sending Data: Forms, Files, and Payloads
Learn how HTTP carries your data - from simple forms to file uploads. Discover how something as innocent as a Content-Length header can become a weapon.
Speaking HTTP Directly: Beyond the Browser
Time to stop letting the browser speak for you. Learn to craft your own HTTP conversations with curl and Python, see what browsers hide, and discover why direct control changes everything.
HTTP in the Wild: APIs and REST
Discover what happens when HTTP drops the HTML costume. Learn how APIs expose the raw business logic of the web and how REST makes everything predictable.
What You've Learned: From Dialogue to Deception
You started as a web user. You're finishing as someone who speaks HTTP fluently, sees through the browser's illusions, and understands why every request is an opportunity.