API Fundamentals
/Advanced
HEAD
Definition
An HTTP method identical to GET, except the server must NOT return a message body in the response. It is used strictly to read the response headers.
Explain Like I'm New
Imagine you want to download a massive 50 Gigabyte video file, but you only have 2 GB of space on your hard drive. If you send a GET request, the server starts sending 50GB of data. If you send a HEAD request, the server just sends the Headers (which includes `Content-Length: 50GB`). You read the header, realize it's too big, and cancel.
Real World Example
Checking if a URL is valid (returns a 200) without actually downloading the entire webpage. Checking if an image has been modified recently before downloading it again.
Common Use Cases
- •Bandwidth saving
- •Link validation
- •Cache validation
Interactive Example
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Interview Questions
basic
- What is the exact difference between a GET request and a HEAD request?
intermediate
- Can a HEAD request modify data in the database?