04. Basic Authentication

Basic Authentication (also referred to as Basic Auth) is the simplest protocol available for performing web service authentication over HTTP protocol. Basic Auth requires a username and password. The client calling the web service takes these two credentials, converts them to a single Base 64–encoded value and passes it along in the Authentication HTTP header.

The server compares the credentials passed to those stored. If it matches, the server fulfills the request and provides access to the data. If the Authentication HTTP header is missing or the password doesn’t match the user name, the server denies access and returns a 401 status code, which means the request is Unauthorized.