HTTP

Technical Areas

• Binary encoding
  • More efficient (eg 14.4k operation)
  • More consistent than MIME
  • Better handling of structures
  • Better handling of recursive encapsulation
  • Contenders: DCE, PER, XDR etc
• Session option
  • Reduce latency per request
  • Get around TCP slow start
  • Allow multiple asynchronous operations
• Increased functionality
  • Front-end update
  • Parameterized negotiation
  • Hooks for security, payment etc etc

Status

• IETF working group formed HTTP-WG.
• HTTP 1.0 document in good shape
• Proposals e.g. HTTP-NG for new generation.

Tim BL, MIT & CERN. W3C Dec 94