14.9 The HTTP Response
The HTTP response starts with a status line in the following form:
<Version> <Result code> <Reason-Phrase>
Here, Version is the HTTP protocol version in which the response is formulated. Result code specifies the success or failure of an operation, and Reason-Phrase is intended for the user. A header formed from the header fields follows the status line again. A blank line that separates the header from the message body terminates the header. If the header contains the Transfer-Encoding:chunked header field, there can be once again an empty line after the data followed by the footer, which is formed again by the header fields. In practice, a case where the footer is used has not been observed.
Here is an example of a status line (positive response):
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Result code consists of three digits. The first digit determines the response type:
- 1xx: Informative response and the process continues
- 2xx: Process successful
- 3xx: Redirecting, i.e.,...
