HTTP/2 in Action

HTTP/2 in Action

by Barry Pollard
Released April 2019
Publisher(s): Manning Publications
ISBN: 9781617295164

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Book description

HTTP/2 in Action is a complete guide to HTTP/2, one of the core protocols of the web. Because HTTP/2 has been designed to be easy to transition to, including keeping it backwards compatible, adoption is rapid and expected to increase over the next few years. Concentrating on practical matters, this interesting book presents key HTTP/2 concepts such as frames, streams, and multiplexing and explores how they affect the performance and behavior of your websites.

About the Technology
HTTP—Hypertext Transfer Protocol—is the standard for exchanging messages between websites and browsers. And after 20 years, it's gotten a much-needed upgrade. With support for streams, server push, header compression, and prioritization, HTTP/2 delivers vast improvements in speed, security, and efficiency.

About the Book
HTTP/2 in Action teaches you everything you need to know to use HTTP/2 effectively. You'll learn how to optimize web performance with new features like frames, multiplexing, and push. You'll also explore real-world examples on advanced topics like flow control and dependencies. With ready-to-implement tips and best practices, this practical guide is sure to get you—and your websites—up to speed!

What's Inside
  • HTTP/2 for web developers
  • Upgrading and troubleshooting
  • Real-world examples and case studies
  • QUIC and HTTP/3


About the Reader
Written for web developers and site administrators.

About the Author
Barry Pollard is a professional developer with two decades of experience developing, supporting, and tuning software and infrastructure.

Quotes
An excellent introduction to the new HTTP/2 standard, with insightful explanations and very good examples.
- Alain Couniot, STIB-MIVB

The most significant change to this protocol in two decades, thoroughly described. Critical reading for web ops and web devs.
- Ronald Cranston, Sky UK

A great resource for learning all the nuances of HTTP/2 and how it will affect development going forward.
- Tom McKearney, Applied Information Sciences

The clearest explanation of HTTP/2 I have seen to date. Highly recommended.
- Edwin Kwok, Red Soldier

Publisher resources

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Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Brief Table of Contents
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Preface
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. About this book
  7. About the author
  8. About the cover illustration
  9. Part 1. Moving to HTTP/2
    1. Chapter 1. Web technologies and HTTP
      1. 1.1. How the web works
      2. 1.2. What is HTTP?
      3. 1.3. The syntax and history of HTTP
      4. 1.4. Introduction to HTTPS
      5. 1.5. Tools for viewing, sending, and receiving HTTP messages
      6. Summary
    2. Chapter 2. The road to HTTP/2
      1. 2.1. HTTP/1.1 and the current World Wide Web
      2. 2.2. Workarounds for HTTP/1.1 performance issues
      3. 2.3. Other issues with HTTP/1.1
      4. 2.4. Real-world examples
      5. 2.5. Moving from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/2
      6. 2.6. What HTTP/2 means for web performance
      7. Summary
    3. Chapter 3. Upgrading to HTTP/2
      1. 3.1. HTTP/2 support
      2. 3.2. Ways to enable HTTP/2 for your website
      3. 3.3. Troubleshooting HTTP/2 setup
      4. Summary
  10. Part 2. Using HTTP/2
    1. Chapter 4. HTTP/2 protocol basics
      1. 4.1. Why HTTP/2 instead of HTTP/1.2?
      2. 4.2. How an HTTP/2 connection is established
      3. 4.3. HTTP/2 frames
      4. Summary
    2. Chapter 5. Implementing HTTP/2 push
      1. 5.1. What is HTTP/2 server push?
      2. 5.2. How to push
      3. 5.3. How HTTP/2 push works in the browser
      4. 5.4. How to push conditionally
      5. 5.5. What to push
      6. 5.6. Troubleshooting HTTP/2 push
      7. 5.7. The performance impact of HTTP/2 push
      8. 5.8. Push versus preload
      9. 5.9. Other use cases for HTTP/2 push
      10. Summary
    3. Chapter 6. Optimizing for HTTP/2
      1. 6.1. What HTTP/2 means for web developers
      2. 6.2. Are some HTTP/1.1 optimizations now antipatterns?
      3. 6.3. Web performance techniques still relevant under HTTP/2
      4. 6.4. Optimizing for both HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2
      5. Summary
  11. Part 3. Advanced HTTP/2
    1. Chapter 7. Advanced HTTP/2 concepts
      1. 7.1. Stream states
      2. 7.2. Flow control
      3. 7.3. Stream priorities
      4. 7.4. HTTP/2 conformance testing
      5. Summary
    2. Chapter 8. HPACK header compression
      1. 8.1. Why is header compression needed?
      2. 8.2. How compression works
      3. 8.3. HTTP body compression
      4. 8.4. HPACK header compression for HTTP/2
      5. 8.5. Real-world examples of HPACK compression
      6. 8.6. HPACK in client and server implementations
      7. 8.7. The value of HPACK
      8. Summary
  12. Part 4. The future of HTTP
    1. Chapter 9. TCP, QUIC, and HTTP/3
      1. 9.1. TCP inefficiencies and HTTP
      2. 9.2. QUIC
      3. Summary
    2. Chapter 10. Where HTTP goes from here
      1. 10.1. Controversies of HTTP/2 and what it didn’t fix
      2. 10.2. HTTP/2 in the real world
      3. 10.3. Future versions of HTTP/2 and what HTTP/3 or HTTP/4 may bring
      4. 10.4. HTTP as a more generic transport protocol
      5. Summary
  13. Appendix. Upgrading common web servers to HTTP/2
    1. A.1. Upgrading your web server to support HTTP/2
    2. A.2. Setting up HTTP/2 via a reverse proxy server
  14. Index
  15. List of Figures
  16. List of Tables
  17. List of Listings

Product information

  • Title: HTTP/2 in Action
  • Author(s): Barry Pollard
  • Release date: April 2019
  • Publisher(s): Manning Publications
  • ISBN: 9781617295164