A POST
, unlike a GET
, typically has relevant information in the body of the request. (A GET
should not have a body, so aside from cookies, the only place to pass info is in the URL.) Besides keeping the URL relatively cleaner, POST
also lets you send much more information (as URLs are limited in length, for all practical purposes), and lets you send just about any type of data (file upload forms, for example, can't use GET
-- they have to use POST
plus a special content type/encoding).
Aside from that, a POST
connotes that the request will change something, and shouldn't be redone willy-nilly. That's why you sometimes see your browser asking you if you want to resubmit form data when you hit the "back" button.
GET
, on the other hand, should be idempotent -- meaning you could do it a million times and the server will do the same thing (and show basically the same result) each and every time.