Sending an HTTP request

Bash:
Sending an HTTP request

How to:

Bash can use tools like curl or wget for HTTP requests. Here’s a quick example with curl.

# Get the content of a webpage
curl https://example.com

# Post data to a server
curl -d "param1=value1&param2=value2" -X POST https://example.com/post-endpoint

# Include headers in a GET request
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://example.com

Sample curl response:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Example Domain</title>
...
</html>

Deep Dive

HTTP requests have been around since the early ’90s and are the foundation of web communication. curl and wget are Unix command-line tools introduced in 1996 and 1996, respectively, for network requests.

wget is typically used for downloading files, while curl can handle a wide variety of protocols and offers more features, making it a go-to for sending HTTP requests from the command line.

Implementing an HTTP request using these tools involves crafting the proper request headers, method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.), and sometimes data payloads. Doing this from Bash scripts enables automation of interaction with web-based services.

Alternative ways of sending HTTP requests in scripting include using scripting languages like Python with libraries such as requests, or using tools like httpie for a more human-friendly interface.

Bash:Sending an HTTP request

How to:

Deep Dive

See Also

Bash:
Sending an HTTP request