Which protocol is used to transfer files on the World Wide Web?

The protocol used to transfer files on the World Wide Web is HTTP, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTP is specifically designed for the transmission of hypertext documents, such as HTML files, between a web server and a web client (browser). It facilitates the request and response communication model, where a client sends a request for a resource and the server responds with the requested resource.

HTTP operates over the Internet and is foundational to the functioning of web pages. When a user enters a web address in their browser, it uses HTTP to fetch the necessary data from the server hosting that website, enabling the display of web content.

While FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is also a method for transferring files, it is less commonly used for general web browsing and is typically employed for transferring large files between systems or for managing file systems on servers. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is specifically designed for sending email, and IP (Internet Protocol) deals with routing packets of data across networks but does not handle the file transfer aspect. Therefore, HTTP is the most appropriate protocol for file transfer on the World Wide Web.