HTTP: The Definitive Guide

Chapter-by-Chapter Guide

This book contains 21 chapters, divided into 5 logical parts (each with a technology theme), and 8 useful appendixes containing reference data and surveys of related technologies:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part I, describes the core technology of HTTP, the foundation of the Web, in four chapters:

• Chapter 1 is a rapid-paced overview of HTTP.

• Chapter 2 details the formats of uniform resource locators (URLs) and the various types of resources that URLs name across the Internet. It also outlines the evolution to uniform resource names (URNs).

• Chapter 3 details how HTTP messages transport web content.

• Chapter 4 explains the commonly misunderstood and poorly documented rules and behavior for managing HTTP connections.

Part II highlights the HTTP server, proxy, cache, gateway, and robot applications that are the architectural building blocks of web systems. (Web browsers are another building block, of course, but browsers already were covered thoroughly in Part I of the book.) Part II contains the following six chapters:

• Chapter 5 gives an overview of web server architectures.

• Chapter 6 explores HTTP proxy servers, which are intermediary servers that act as platforms for HTTP services and controls.

• Chapter 7 delves into the science of web caches—devices that improve performance and reduce traffic by making local copies of popular documents.

• Chapter 8 explains gateways and application servers that allow HTTP to work with software that speaks ...