http response message

Question

I want to know that when browser sends a request do the server sends back the contents explicitly? And how would i confirm it?

Answer 1

There are several toolbars in Firefox that show exactly what are coming and going when making an HTTP request.

For firefox i use the following plugins:

• Firebug
• Web Developer

You could also install a utility called WireShark. It will "sniff" all the network traffic on your computer and show you at a packet level how it all works.

Answer 2

Browser plugins such as firebug (for firefox) let you see exactly what the server is returning; that's quite instructive and recommended! You'll see a bunch of headers followed by the response body in any of several formats (could be chunked, etc, etc).

Answer 3

In a Windows environment you can use Fiddler.

Fiddler includes a fair amount of documentation and is easy to use.