HTTP Modules and HTTP Handlers

HTTP modules and HTTP handlers are an integral part of the ASP.NET architecture. While a request is being processed, each request is processed by multiple HTTP modules (for example, the authentication module and the session module) and is then processed by a single HTTP handler. After the handler has processed the request, the request flows back through the HTTP modules.

• HTTP Handlers
  1. HTTP Handlers can be used to process custom requests that may not be in the standard supported format like .htm, .aspx, .asmx etc.
  2. One example will be RSS feed processing .
  3. The primary job of an Http handler is to produce a http response (not html)
  4. How to configure HTTP handlers
• HTTP Module
  • Modules are called before and after the handler executes.
  • Modules enable developers to intercept, participate in, or modify each individual request.
  • Modules implement the IHttpModule interface, which is located in the System.Web namespace.
  • How to configure HTTP Modules

More info : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms972953.aspx