Working with a Stateless Protocol

By Tony Marston
2006-08-13


Introduction

Introduction

Before switching to web development and the stateless HTTP protocol I spent several decades developing client-server systems which were statefull. These came in several flavours:

• "Thin" client with dumb "green screen" terminals connected to a central mini-computer acting as both the application server and database server. Two different protocols were used:
  • Character mode - where each key press is transmitted to the server, then echoed back to the client.
  • Block mode - where the user fills in a form and presses the ENTER key to transmit the whole form to the server.
• "Thick" client with networked PCs connected to a central database server, with the PCs using a GUI.

You should notice that the old block mode protocol with its ENTER key is quite similar to the new HTML form with its SUBMIT button.

Tutorial Pages:
» Introduction
» The Differences
» Maintaining State manually
» Other points to consider

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