WebDAV stands for Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning. It's an extension of the HTTP protocol that allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers. Designed to facilitate document management and editing over the internet, WebDAV provides a framework for creating, moving, copying, and deleting files and folders, as well as managing permissions and properties of these resources.
Originally developed in the late 1990s, WebDAV was defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and has since been implemented by various web servers and clients. This extension makes it easier for applications to work with files on a server as if they were local, enabling functionalities like file locking to prevent conflicts during simultaneous edits.
Some useful purposes for WebDAV include enabling collaboration in content management systems, allowing remote editing of documents in office applications, and serving as a backend for cloud storage services. Its integration with various software makes it a versatile tool for managing files over the web.