HTTP/2 (Hypertext Transfer Protocol version 2) is a protocol for transmitting data over the internet. It is the successor to HTTP/1.1 and was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The main goal of HTTP/2 is to improve web performance by reducing page load times and improving website security. HTTP/2 was first introduced in May 2015 as an official standard. After several years of development and testing. Since then, HTTP/2 has been widely adopted by web servers and web browsers and is now the preferred protocol for many websites.
Some of the key features of HTTP/2 include:
- Multiplexing: it allows multiple requests and responses to be sent over a single connection at the same time, which can improve page load times and reduce latency. (the main feature)
- Server push: it enables servers to push resources to the client before the client requests them, which can also improve page load times.
- Binary protocol: it uses a binary format for data transfer, which is more efficient than the text-based format used in HTTP/1.1.
- Header compression: it uses header compression to reduce the size of header data sent between the client and server, which can reduce page load times.
In compare to HTTP/1, we can list the following benefits:
- Faster page load times: HTTP/2 allows multiple requests to be sent and received over a single connection, which can reduce the number of round trips required to load a web page. This can result in faster page load times, especially for websites with a large number of resources.
- Better resource utilization: HTTP/2 enables server push, which allows the server to send resources to the client before the client requests them. This can help improve resource utilization and reduce the number of requests required to load a web page.
- Improved security: HTTP/2 requires the use of SSL/TLS encryption, which provides better security for data transfer over the internet.
- Header compression: HTTP/2 uses header compression to reduce the size of header data sent between the client and server, which can reduce page load times.
About Compatibility:
HTTP/2 is designed to be compatible with HTTP/1.1, which means that servers can continue to support HTTP/1.1 clients while also supporting HTTP/2 clients. The URL of a website using HTTP/2 will be the same as a website using HTTP/1 as HTTP/2 is a protocol for transmitting data over the internet, but it does not affect the structure of URLs.For example, the URL of a website using HTTP/2 might look like this: https://www.ehsanghanbari.com/
About Migrating to Http2:
In order to migrate to HTTP/2 ensure your web server supports HTTP/2. Most modern web servers support HTTP/2, but you may need to upgrade your server or enable HTTP/2 support. Rather than that enable SSL/TLS encryption as HTTP/2 requires the use of SSL/TLS encryption, so you will need to ensure that your website is using HTTPS. Besides, you may need to upgrade some codes of your website and optimize some resources.
Overall, HTTP/2 is designed to make the web faster, more secure, and more efficient. It is supported by most modern web browsers and web servers, and many websites have already migrated to using HTTP/2. It offers several improvements over HTTP/1.1 that can help make the web faster, more efficient, and more secure. However, it requires support from both the client and server sides and may require some changes to website infrastructure to fully take advantage of its benefits.
Category: Software
Tags: W3C Miscellaneous