Evolution of HTTP — HTTP/0.9, HTTP/1.0, HTTP/1.1, Keep-Alive, Upgrade, and HTTPS
Understanding how HTTP works in the real world
Disclaimer: This article focuses on explaining some underlying implementation details of HTTP, which will be helpful for readers to better understand my blog article — “Web API Design with HTTP and Websockets”
Invented by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in the years 1989–1991, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the underlying communication protocol of World Wide Web. HTTP functions as a request–response protocol in the client–server computing model. HTTP standards are developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), culminating in the publication of a series of Requests for Comments (RFCs). HTTP has four versions — HTTP/0.9, HTTP/1.0, HTTP/1.1, and HTTP/2.0. Today the version in common use is HTTP/1.1 and the future will be HTTP/2.0.
HTTP/0.9 — The One-line Protocol
- Initial version of HTTP — a simple client-server, request-response…
