HTTP From First Principles: Requests, Caching, and APIs

Modern web development is easier when HTTP stops feeling like background magic. This session explains the request and response model that connects browsers, servers, APIs, caches, and debugging tools.

What we will cover

• The anatomy of a request: method, URL, headers, body, and cookies
• The anatomy of a response: status code, headers, body, and redirects
• How browsers use caching headers and why stale content appears
• How JSON APIs differ from HTML pages without changing the protocol
• Common production issues: CORS, auth headers, timeouts, and large payloads
• Debugging traffic with browser DevTools and command-line tools

Who should attend

Entry-level web developers, backend beginners, QA engineers, and students who want a practical mental model for web traffic.

Takeaway

Attendees leave able to inspect requests, explain common status codes, reason about caching, and communicate API issues clearly with teammates.