What is an HTTP response code?

An HTTP response code is a three-digit status code returned by a server in response to a client's request made through the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). These codes indicate the outcome of the request and can range from informational responses to successful operations, client errors, server errors, and more. Each response code carries a specific meaning, allowing clients (such as web browsers) to understand and respond appropriately to the server's response. Common examples include "200 OK" for successful requests, "404 Not Found" for resources that cannot be found, and "500 Internal Server Error" for server-side issues.

HTTP response codes are messages sent from the server to the client , telling it the outcome of its request. They come in categories like “success “ , “ Redirection “ , “ client Error “ and “ server Error “ . These codes help both sides understand what happened during request.

I have seen some pretty big projects returning wrong status code. Often the code would be 200 along with "Unauthorized" in the response body. I understand that it doesn't break anything if the client can handle it, but you are making others' lives harder.

An HTTP response code, also known as an HTTP status code, is a three-digit number returned by a server in response to an HTTP request made by a client Here are some commonly encountered HTTP response codes: 100 (Continue) 200 (OK) 201 (Created) 301 (Moved Permanently) 302 (Found) 400 (Bad Request) 404 (Not Found) 500 (Internal Server Error) 503 (Service Unavailable)

This is a standardized status code returned by a web server in response to a client's request made to the server via Hypertext Transfer Protocol. These codes indicate the result of the request, whether it was successful, met with an error or needs further action, and so on. There are many HTTP response codes, each of which have their specific meanings. HTTP response codes facilitate communication between clients and servers in the HTTP protocol and ensure efficient interaction between web-based systems.

Informational responses: Examples include 1. 100 (Continue)- indicating that the client should continue the request or ignore the response if the request is finished 2. 101 (Switching Protocols)- responding to an (Upgrade) request header from the client, indicating the protocol the server is switching to 3. 102 (Processing)- request received by server and processing in progress, but no response available yet. 4. 103 (Early Hints)- intended to be used with the (Link) header, letting the user agent start preloading resources as the server prepares a response to an origin from which the page will need resources.

🌐 Categories of HTTP Response Codes 🚀 Encounter "404 Not Found" or "500 Internal Server Error"? 🔍 What are they? 3-digit signals from servers revealing request success, failure, or need for action. Insights into the response nature. 🚦 Common Codes: - 200 OK: Success! Server processed and delivered requested data. - 301 Moved: Resource permanently shifted. - 404 Not Found: Classic "page not found" error. - 500 Internal Server Error: Unexpected server malfunction. 🔑 Why Important? For Developers: Diagnose issues. For Users: Decode error messages, troubleshoot. 🌈 Categories: - 1xx: Informational. - 2xx: Success. - 3xx: Redirection. - 4xx: Client Error. - 5xx: Server Error. #HTTP

Response codes under: 1xx can be considered codes that helps to determine the request was understood and it is up to the client to take the next action such as continue to the next requiest. 2xx are success codes 3xx are codes that helps to determine the request was moved from original URL to a different one to be processed. 4xx are codes that determines the client request is on error due to missing data expected by the server or attempting to visit a page that does not exist or visit a protected page finally 5xx are server errors at the infrastructure level and should be. addressed by the owner of the server.

The main categories of HTTP responses are: 1xx which provides information that request has been received and server is continuing to process the request. 2xx which indicates that request was successful. 3xx indicates that further action needs to be taken in order complete the request. 4xx indicates unautherized access or bad request. 5xx indicates error on the server side while processing the required.

Mastering HTTP Response Codes 🚀 1️⃣ Check Before Processing: - 🕵️♂️ Inspect response code first. - 🧠 Use conditional statements or exceptions. 2️⃣ Info & Success Codes: - 🌐 Parse/display data as intended. - 🚀 Address special cases (e.g., 204, 206). 3️⃣ Redirection Codes: - 🔄 Follow new URL/resource. - 🤖 Automate with functions/libraries. 4️⃣ Client Error Codes: - ❌ Display user-friendly errors. - 🙏 Prompt for valid input. - 🔁 Retry with modifications. 5️⃣ Server Error Codes: - 📢 Communicate clear errors to users. - 📝 Log for reporting. 🌐🛠️ #HTTP #WebDev

Python standard "requests" module provides functionality for checking status code responses. (Almost all programming languages provide basic methods for handle status code responses). In python it works like that: 1 | response = requests.get(url, params) 2 | response.status_code # returns status code of the request 3 | # basic if-else structures can be used for handling status code, but this is not best practice. Better, status-code handling using try-except structure: 1 | try: 2 | response = requests.get(url, params) 3 | response.raise_for_status() 4 | except Exception as e: 5 | print(f"Error: {e}") # custom exception handlers can be written for various cases.

An industry standard is to add logic to the the application source code that based on particular defined conditions can thrown specific HTTP status code

There is a very special and important HTTP code that says if your server is a teapot or an espresso machine. The HTTP 418 I'm a teapot client error response code indicates that the server refuses to brew coffee because it is, permanently, a teapot. A combined coffee/tea pot that is temporarily out of coffee should instead return 503. This error is a reference to Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol. Tasty!

TOP 10 - common status codes: 1) 200 -> Success - OK; 2) 301 -> Permanent redirect; 3) 302 -> Temporary redirect; 4) 304 -> Not modified (used for caching purposes); 5) 400 -> Bad request; 6) 401 -> Unauthorized error; 7) 403 -> Forbidden; 8) 404 -> Page not found; 9) 500 -> Internal server error; 10) 501 -> Not implemented (not supported request methods); Source: GeeksForGeeks

Send and consume HTTP codes as expected. Do not mix a match HTTP status codes because can lead developers to take incorrect decision or can lead to false-positive debugging sessions. HTTP codes are the common way to communicate across thousands of applications around the world and their developers and end users; therefore HTTP status codes should be honored on all times.