HTTP Status Code 226
Status code 226 is an HTTP code that indicates the server successfully fulfilled a GET request, but with a twist. The response isn't the entire resource itself, but rather a representation of changes made to the resource.
This functionality relies on a feature called delta encoding, which allows a client to request updates to a resource it already has cached, rather than downloading the entire resource again. The client indicates its support for delta encoding through a special header in its request. If the server supports delta encoding as well, it will respond with the 226 status code and the data containing the changes, or delta, to the resource.
There are a few things to keep in mind about status code 226:
- It's not widely used. Most browsers don't support delta encoding, so you won't encounter this code very often when browsing the web. It's typically used in custom applications where a client and server have a specific agreement to use delta encoding for efficiency.
- The 226 response itself doesn't contain the entire resource, just the delta. The client needs to combine the delta with its cached copy to get the complete updated resource.
Other 2xx Status Codes
