The first complete reference guide to the essential Web protocol As applications and services converge and Web technologies not only assume HTTP but require developers to manipulate it, it is becoming increasingly crucial for network managers, Web masters, and anyone working with HTTP to understand the nuts and bolts of this most prevalent Web protocol. This book provides complete documentation and explanation of the protocol, including advanced and experimental extensions. Readers will get core guidance on implementing HTTP 1.1 in their products, including how to accelerate HTTP in large scale Web sites, how to secure it, and how to handle compatibility issues with versions 0.9 and 1.0. HTTP switching and invisible HTTP operations such as option negotiations, status checks, and path tracing are also examined.