HTTP/2 is the latest evolution of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is the network protocol used to request and receive pages and data on the World Wide Web. The new technology will eventually supersede HTTP/1.1 which was standardized more than two decades ago.
How Does HTTP/2 Differ from HTTP/1.1?
Perhaps HTTP/2 is better written as its original name: HTTP/2.0. It has its roots in the SPDY (pronounced speedy) protocol devised by Google in 2009.
HTTP/1.1 has several issues. It was created at a time when web pages rarely exceeded 100Kb, CSS was not available, JavaScript was new and rarely used for anything more than basic form validation or simple effects. High bandwidth, Ajax, Single-Page Applications and client-side frameworks were many years away so no one envisaged pages making more than a few requests.
HTTP/2's main objectives were to reduce latency. It gets a little technical but efficiencies were achieved using several techniques…
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