HTTP web standard to get its first revision in 16 years

The HTTP standard is all set to get its first major update. The new standard has been proposed for faster deliver of web pages to browsers. In fact, it will be the Internet protocol’s first revision in the past 16 years.

Mark Nottingham, who is the chairman of the IETF HTTPBIS Working Group writes in an official blog post that the new HTTP 2.0’s specs have been approved formally. However, he further writes that the specifications will go through a last formality. They will be published only after the Request for Comment documenting and editorial processes, Nottingham said.

“HTTP/2 is a huge deal; it’s the next big version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, marking the largest change since 1999 when HTTP 1.1 was adopted,” states TheNextWeb.

With the new standard, one can expect faster page loads, longer-lived connections, server push and more. Along with a number of new features that developers can adopt, it is said to use the same HTTP APIs that they are familiar with.

The HTTP requests will be cheaper to make. It will introduce a new multiplexing feature, allowing several requests to be delivered at the same time. This will ensure the page load isn’t blocked.

Another notable feature is encryption. “Google has long pushed for encryption on the Web to protect privacy and cut down on hacking vulnerabilities, and SPDY requires encryption technology called TLS (Transport Layer Security, formerly called SSL for Secure Sockets. That encyrption push grew a lot stronger after the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed extensive government surveillance, and SPDY’s creators along with some IETF saw the performance benefits of HTTP 2.0 as a good way to coax more of the Web toward encryption,” points out Cnet.

Developers who want to test the new HTTP 2.0 before it goes live, can do so in Firefox and Chrome with downloadable test servers.

Posted by : Gizmeon