Microsoft is submitting a new protocol proposal to HTTP working group, the new protocol aims to make the web faster. HTTP working group Internet Engineering task Force (IETF) is meeting next week for HTTP 2.0 which will address performance limitations with HTTP.
Microsoft explains in a blog post that Microsoft will submit a proposal to IETF for HTTP Speed+Mobility. “The approach we propose focuses on all the web’s end users, emphasizing performance improvements and security while at the same time accounting for the important needs of mobile devices and applications.”
Google’s SPDY protocol pronounced speedy was announced in 2009 is also a contender for replacing current HTTP protocol. SPDY is designed to minimize latency through multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression. SPDY is 50% faster than the HTTP protocol, Google claimed when it is announced. Currently Chrome and Firefox both support SPDY protocol.
Microsoft’s proposed HTTP Speed+Mobility starts from both the Google SPDY protocol and also includes WebSockets API development as well. While acknowledging the SPDY way of improving web performance, Microsoft says the emphasis is not only on web and browsers but on mobile devices and applications. It is quite strange to think that Google didn’t considered mobile devices and applications in making this protocol, as it is one of the prioritized areas for Google.
Mike Belshe, Co-inventor of SPDY responds to Microsoft’s protocol on Google plus.
In their post, they imply that SPDY is not optimized for mobile, which is not true. SPDY is now over 3 years in the making with a lot of implementation knowledge and deployment expertise on both desktops and mobile. My current company, Twist, is a mobile apps company, and we’re optimizing our mobile performance using SPDY. Given what other implementors have said about SPDY and mobile, I’d say its working pretty well. But it could always be better, of course.
Source: MSDN Blogs, Via WebMonkey