XHR

Technology & Computing abbreviation · Internet & Web

XHR
Stands forXMLHttpRequest
CategoriesTechnology & Computing

XHR stands for XMLHttpRequest, an Internet & web abbreviation.

A browser API that lets JavaScript send HTTP requests and receive responses without reloading the page; it powered the AJAX era. Browser developer tools still label these requests "XHR" in the Network panel.

Example: Filter the Network tab by XHR to see which API call returns the 500 error.

Usage notes

Created by Microsoft for Outlook Web Access and shipped in Internet Explorer 5 in 1999 as an ActiveX object, then copied by other browsers. Despite its name it handles any kind of data, not just XML. The promise-based fetch API is now preferred for new code, and XHR lives on as a WHATWG living standard.

More Internet & web abbreviations

  • .com – Commercial (top-level domain)
  • .edu – Education (top-level domain)
  • .gov – Government (top-level domain)
  • .net – Network (top-level domain)
  • .org – Organization (top-level domain)
  • a11y – Accessibility
  • AJAX – Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
  • AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages
  • ARIA – Accessible Rich Internet Applications
  • ASP – Active Server Pages
  • BBS – Bulletin board system
  • BEM – Block Element Modifier

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