Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science

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What is one characteristic of the HTTP protocol?

It is used for file storage
It primarily handles secure transactions
It facilitates sending and receiving web pages
It requires complex encryption

The correct answer is: It facilitates sending and receiving web pages

The HTTP protocol, which stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, is specifically designed to facilitate the transfer of data over the web, primarily focusing on sending and receiving web pages. This transmission involves the communication between a web client (like a browser) and a server, enabling the retrieval of HTML documents, images, and other resources that constitute a webpage. The other options do not accurately characterize HTTP. While some protocols handle file storage (like FTP or SFTP), HTTP is not designed with file storage in mind. Although HTTPS is a secure version of HTTP that handles secure transactions, standard HTTP does not inherently include encryption; it transmits data in plaintext and does not focus on ensuring security. Lastly, requiring complex encryption is not a feature of HTTP; in fact, standard HTTP does not require any encryption at all, thus making it distinct from secure protocols like HTTPS, which does employ encryption measures to protect data during transmission.