Which statement best describes the meaning of a 404 response?

Which statement best describes the meaning of a 404 response?

• A. The requested resource is not available at the moment but may be later
• B. The page has moved permanently
• C. The request was successful and content is returned
• D. The server cannot fulfill the request due to a client error

Answer: (A)

A 404 Not Found means the server looked for the resource at the specific URL you requested but couldn’t find anything there. This usually happens if the URL is mistyped, the page was moved or deleted, or it never existed at that path. It isn’t describing something that might become available later—that kind of temporary unavailability would be shown with a 503 Service Unavailable. If something had moved permanently, you’d typically get a redirect (301 or 302) to the new location. So the best understanding is that the requested resource cannot be found at that URL.

A 404 Not Found means the server looked for the resource at the specific URL you requested but couldn’t find anything there. This usually happens if the URL is mistyped, the page was moved or deleted, or it never existed at that path. It isn’t describing something that might become available later—that kind of temporary unavailability would be shown with a 503 Service Unavailable. If something had moved permanently, you’d typically get a redirect (301 or 302) to the new location. So the best understanding is that the requested resource cannot be found at that URL.