HTTP 1.1: What's in it for Me?
By Lincoln D. Stein
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is what makes the Web go. It's the basic communications protocol that tells Web browsers how to get the URL they want. The existing protocol, version 1.0, has served us well for some seven years and has successfully transmitted many terabytes of hypertext, images, and sound across the Internet.
But like an aging dowager whose skillful makeup disguises wrinkles, but fails to erase them, HTTP 1.0 has begun to show its age. Sluggish performance has turned the WWW into the "World Wide Wait." Ambiguous caching rules cause browser history lists to behave in unexpected ways, and inadequate privacy controls allow confidential information to leak through firewalls. A patchwork of ad hoc extensions and conventions has improved the situation at the cost of incompatibilities and workarounds.
Enter HTTP version 1.1. Currently a proposed Internet standard, HTTP 1.1 seeks to rectify many of the problems in HTTP 1.0. HTTP 1.1-compliant Web servers are available, and the first wave of compatible browsers should be here by the time you read this. This month, I'll take you on a whirlwind tour of HTTP 1.1's greatest hits. (Also see "
Online".)
Good News and Bad News
First the bad news. HTTP 1.1 is a lot more complicated than HTTP 1.0
