Linux for Developers
/Intermediate
curl
Definition
Client URL. A command-line tool for transferring data over various network protocols (HTTP, HTTPS, FTP). It is the industry standard for testing APIs from the terminal.
Explain Like I'm New
A web browser without a screen. You ask for a website, and instead of showing you pictures, it just dumps the raw HTML code onto your terminal.
Real World Example
A developer is writing a REST API. To test it, they type `curl -X POST -d '{"user":"bob"}' http://localhost:3000/api/users`. The terminal prints out the JSON response from the server.
Common Use Cases
- •Testing APIs
- •Downloading files
- •Automated web requests
Interview Questions
basic
- Does `curl` process JavaScript or render images like Chrome does?
intermediate
- What does the `-i` flag do in a `curl` command?