HTTP 2 Overview

The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) enables the retrieval of network-connected resources available across the cyber world and has evolved through the decades to deliver a fast, secure and rich medium for digital communication. It is a set of standards allowing internet users to exchange website information. HTTP/2 is the latest revision of HTTP used by browsers to exchange website communication.

HTTP/2 makes applications faster, simpler, and more robust which optimizes applications and improves performance. The primary goals for HTTP/2 are to reduce latency by allowing full request and response multiplexing, minimise protocol overhead via efficient compression of HTTP header fields, and add support for request prioritisation and server push.

HTTP/2 no longer adjust the utility semantics of HTTP in any way. All the core concepts(HTTP methods, status codes, URIs, and header fields) remain in place which means all existing applications can be delivered without any modification.

Pros and Cons of HTTP/2
Pros

• It is binary, not textual
• It enables more efficient use of network resources and a reduced perception of latency by introducing header field compression.
• It is fully multiplexed, what this means is that multiple parallel requests can be made to improve performance within a single TCP connection leading to better utilisation of available network capacity.
• It decreases the load time of applications drastically.

Cons :
There is no alternative available today that’s superior to HTTP/2.

• Encryption is not required.
• There is still an issue with Cookie security
• It is not super modern and not very fast

Benefits of HTTP/2
HTTP/2 brings a number of new features to the table, including:

• A binary protocol, making it more compact to ship over the wire
• Multiplexed and parallel connections allow for faster, more efficient data transfer
• Server push functionality, which enables web developers to build sites that proactively send assets that are needed by a web page and can minimize network overhead.
• Header compression decreases the bandwidth overhead imposed by HTTP/2.
• Prioritization and stream dependency helps developers and website owners optimize their site’s network usage.

HTTP/2 brings about a new and improved Web. It is faster, needs less bandwidth, helps websites stay secure, and makes the overall web user experience smoother and safer.

With HTTP/2, latency is reduced, and there is faster performance and better SEO rankings. HTTP/2 is currently supported added and configured on all hosting