Technical Summary
This specification describes an optimized expression of the semantics of
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP/2 enables a more efficient
use of network resources and a reduced perception of latency by
introducing header field compression and allowing multiple concurrent
messages on the same connection. It also introduces unsolicited push of
representations from servers to clients.
This specification is an alternative to, but does not obsolete, the
HTTP/1.1 message syntax. HTTP's existing semantics remain unchanged.
Review and Consensus
We have enjoyed active participation from a broad community, including
browser vendors, intermediaries (such as CDN and proxy vendors), server
vendors and protocol library authors; this includes both commercial
vendors and open source libraries.
Our current implementation list is at:
https://github.com/http2/http2-spec/wiki/Implementations
Additionally, we have had participation and review from the
non-implementing HTTP community itself. We have substantial external
interest from the Web performance community as well.
We have also coordinated with the W3C, giving them regular updates
through the liaison and the TAG.
See the document shepherd writeup for a detailed discussion of the tricky
points: <http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-httpbis-http2/shepherdwriteup/>
Personnel
Mark Nottingham is the Document Shepherd and Working Group Chair. Barry
Leiba is the responsible Area Director.