What is the difference between doGet() and doPost()?
- doGet() and doPost() are HTTP requests handled by servlet classes.
- In doGet(), the parameters are appended to the URL and sent along with the header information. This does not happen in case of doPost().
- In doPost(), the parameters are sent separately.
- Since most of the web servers support only a limited amount of information to be attached to the headers, the size of this header should not exceed 1024 bytes. doPost() does not have this constraint.
- doGet() shall be used when small amount of data and insensitive data like a query has to be sent as a request.
- doPost() shall be used when comparatively large amount of sensitive data has to be sent. Examples are sending data after filling up a form or sending login id and password.
Following example would help in understand the working of the doGet() and doPost() better:- When you type the word 'java' in google search bar and hit enter, this is what you will find in the address bar:
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=java&meta=
- This is an example of doGet().
- Had it been doPost(), you wouldn't have been able to see "hl=en&q=java&meta=" in the address bar.
