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What Is the Difference Between GET and POST Methods?

What Is the Difference Between GET and POST Methods?

By 048 Vishesh Aggarwal
3 mins read
Last updated: 4 Dec 2023
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Overview

In the following article, we'll delve into the crucial Difference between Get and Post method. Understanding the differences is fundamental for effective communication between clients and servers in web development. We'll explore how GET requests retrieve data by appending parameters to the URL, while POST requests send data in the request body.

HTTP Methods

Following are the HTTP methods:

  • GET
  • POST
  • PUT
  • HEAD
  • DELETE
  • PATCH
  • OPTIONS
  • CONNECT
  • TRACE

The GET Method

Note the URL if I search for “scaler academy”,

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scaler+academy

The end part of the URL that consists of results?search_query=scaler+academy is a parameter that is sent to the YouTube server to get videos related to the corresponding search query i.e. scaler academy. This is an example of GET request. You’re requesting data and according to your request, backend server responses.
Let’s see an example of a GET request:

What is Get Request

It clearly visible that we’re making a Get request and server responses with a status code of 200 (which means the request is accepted by the server and the server responded with a positive response)

Get Request Headers

The above image shows the headers passed with the request.

Get Search Query

And, this shows our query to the server where seach_query is the variable and Scaler Academy is its value. Also, you can see that in the above request while sending the data GET method adds the data to the URL only. So in short you can say that GET is used to get data from a specified resource.

The POST Method

In contrast, to Get request, a Post request is used to send data to the server to create or update resources. For that, we make a Post request to the server, and that data will be added to the database in the ideal case. This is the difference between get and post method. To relate this with a real-life example, we use social media platforms and there we see so many posts on our feed (through get request) and billions of posts are added on a daily basis (through post request).

In Post request, data is not visible on the URL like GET request. Instead, we pass our data inside the body of `POST request.

Difference Between GET and POST method

  • Visibility:

    • GET: Data is visible in the URL, making it less secure.
    • POST: Data is sent in the request body, hidden from the URL, making it more secure.

  • Security:

    • GET: Less secure as data is exposed in the URL, making it vulnerable to interception.
    • POST: More secure as data is not exposed in the URL, making it less susceptible to interception.

  • Cache:

    • GET: Requests are cached by default, improving performance for frequently accessed resources.
    • POST: Requests are not cached by default, preventing outdated data from being served.

  • Server State:

    • GET: Should not modify server state; used to retrieve data.
    • POST: May modify server state; used to create, update, or delete data.

  • Amount of Data Transmitted:

    • GET: Limited by URL length restrictions.
    • POST: No restrictions on data size.

  • Data Type:

    • GET: Supports string data types.
    • POST: Supports various data types, including string, numeric, binary, and others.

Compare GET vs. POST

GetPost
Data is visible on the GET request URL.Data is Not visible in the request so you can pass sensitive data like passwords etc.
Data length should be maintained to avoid exceeding URL length limit.No limit on data length is there in POST request.
It supports only string data typesIt supports different data types like strings, boolean, integer, etc
Get request can be bookmarkedPost request can’t be bookmarked
Get is simple to use because of its nature of appending data to URL only.Post requires header information, body, etc which makes it hard to use as compared with Get request.
Get requestsrequest can be cached.POST requestsrequest can’t be cached.

Conclusion

  • In this article, we learned about two of the very important HTTP request methods i.e. Get and post.
  • Also, we saw the difference between get and post method.
  • GET is less secure and visible, but efficient for caching. POST is more secure, supports larger data, and can modify server state.
  • The article compares GET and POST methods, highlighting key differences in visibility, security, cache, server state, amount of data transmitted, and data type.
  • GET is less secure and visible, but efficient for caching.
  • POST is more secure, supports larger data, and can modify server state.
  • We also get to know about the differences between the Get and Post method and where and how to use them in different situations.