DRX

Web Developer Resource Index: HTTP

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the engine that drives the the Web, and is an application of the client-server programming model. To fetch this page you most likely selected a hyperlink, or URI, usually clicking on it with a mouse. After doing so your browser (the client) requested it from the Web server on this host, a brief negotiation was made, and the server returned the page after which the browser rendered it and now you are viewing (or listening) to it.

HTTP is a very simple stateless TCP/IP protocol—some say too simple. The tradeoff? Speed. Pure and simple, it delivers.

For a more detailed discussion on this topic, visit the HTTP Protocol section of my PHP Labs series on building modular XHTML Web pages.

Updated: Thursday, December 4th, 2008 @ 11:42 AM EST

Internet:Protocols:HTTP {0}(10)[53]

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Resources

• 1.Hypertext Transfer Protocol: HTTP/1.1

  The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. [140]

  ★★★★★
  URI:http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616.html
  Author:
  Roy Fielding
  [2]
  Reviewed:Thursday, April 14th, 2005 @ 9:54 PM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Hypertext Transfer Protocol: HTTP/1.1 httpreferencew3c
   

• 2.View HTTP Request and Response Header

  A browser-based HTTP request and response MIME header tool. Type or paste-in a URL, select a few options, and submit to view the exchange between client and server. Supports HTTP/1.1 and 1.0, https, gzip encoding, and GET, POST, HEAD and TRACE methods. [1783]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://web-sniffer.net/
  Author:
  Lingo4you
  [1]
  Reviewed:Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 @ 1:44 PM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  View HTTP Request and Response Header client-servergziphttphttpsmimetoolsurluser-agent
   

• 3.Best Practices for Speeding up your Web Site

  For the most part, the thoroughly tested suggestions presented in this article are related to the HTTP protocol. However, there are a few outside of that scope. Overall, this is a great resource to get you started on the road to a snappier Web site. [1778]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html
  Author:
  Yahoo!
  [5]
  Reviewed:Sunday, October 26th, 2008 @ 6:14 AM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Best Practices for Speeding up your Web Site ajaxcachecdncssdevelopergziphttpjavascriptnetworkperformanceyahoo
   

• 4.Caching Tutorial

  Caches can help your Web site load faster, and save load on your server. The difference can be dramatic. A site that is difficult to cache may take several seconds to load, while one that takes advantage of caching can seem instantaneous in comparison. [1643]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.mnot.net/cache_docs/
  Author:
  Mark Nottingham
  [2]
  Reviewed:Monday, February 13th, 2006 @ 4:26 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Caching Tutorial cachehttpperformanceweb server
   

• 5.Powering the Web with HTTP

  Pay close attention to the protocol Behind the Curtain! In his first article for Digital Web, Jonathan delivers a well-written overview of the HTTP protocol. HTTP is the keystone of Web development, a thorough understanding of it is essential. [1347]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://digital-web.com/articles/powering_the_web_with_http/
  Author:
  Jonathan Snook
  [2]
  Reviewed:Tuesday, June 28th, 2005 @ 5:32 PM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Powering the Web with HTTP developerhttpprotocolweb
   

• 6.HTTP Trace

  From the author of mod_gzip is this interesting Perl/CGI utility used to trace an HTTP request. Enter a URI, and the script will fetch the resource and display the request and response headers. Supports the GET, POST, TRACE, HEAD and OPTIONS methods. [1346]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://schroepl.net/cgi-bin/http_trace.pl
  Author:
  Michael Schröpl
  [2]
  Reviewed:Tuesday, June 28th, 2005 @ 2:04 AM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  HTTP Trace cgihttplwpperlprotocol
   

• 7.LiveHTTPHeaders

  A Mozilla Firefox extension that allows you to view the HTTP headers of any request you make with the browser in a number of different ways. [1024]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://livehttpheaders.mozdev.org/
  Author:
  Daniel Savard
  [1]
  Reviewed:Wednesday, April 20th, 2005 @ 2:34 AM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  LiveHTTPHeaders extensionfirefoxhttp
   

• 8.Common HTTP Implementation Problems

  This document is a set of good practices to improve implementations of HTTP and related standards as well as their use. It explains a few basic concepts, points out common mistakes and misbehaviors, and suggests "best practices" [194]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.w3.org/TR/chips/
  Author:
  Olivier Théreaux
  [2]
  Reviewed:Monday, April 11th, 2005 @ 3:23 PM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Common HTTP Implementation Problems httpw3c
   

• 9.HTTP Performance Overview

  This page is devoted to information about how to improve HTTP/1.1 performance. Most of the results are derived from experiences with Jigsaw, Apache and the libwww implementations of HTTP/1.1. [142]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/Performance/
  Author:
  Henrik Frystyk Nielsen
  [2]
  Reviewed:Friday, April 8th, 2005 @ 8:57 AM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  HTTP Performance Overview httpperformancew3c
   

• 10.Hypertext Transfer Protocol: Overview

  HTTP-related efforts in W3C are continuing. Some staff resources will remain allocated within the Jigsaw Activity to maintain an Overview page on HTTP on the W3C website, and to track implementation experience with HTTP/1.1 and HTTP extensions. [141]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.w3.org/Protocols/
  Author:
  Yves Lafon
  [1]
  Reviewed:Friday, April 8th, 2005 @ 8:47 AM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Hypertext Transfer Protocol: Overview httpreferencew3c
   

Related Categories

Internet:WWW:Servers {1}(8)[29]

Internet:Protocols:URI {0}(8)[59]

Matching Tags

ajax cache cdn cgi client-server css developer extension firefox gzip http https javascript lwp mime network performance perl protocol reference tools url user-agent w3c web web server yahoo

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