Negotiation

Noun · Development

Definitions

  1. The process by which two communicating parties agree on parameters for their exchange — in HTTP, content negotiation uses `Accept`, `Accept-Language`, and `Accept-Encoding` headers to select the best representation; in TLS, cipher suite negotiation determines the encryption algorithms for the session.

    In plain English: When two systems automatically agree on the format, language, or method they'll use to communicate with each other.

    Example: "The API uses content negotiation — if the client sends `Accept: application/xml`, it gets XML; otherwise it defaults to JSON."

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