Can you name the main versions of the HTTP protocol and the differences between them?

Main versions of the HTTP protocol and their differences:

• HTTP/1.0

  • The first widely used standard.
  • Each connection is opened and closed for each request.
  • No support for persistent connections by default.

• HTTP/1.1

  • Support for persistent connections (keep-alive), reducing the overhead of establishing connections.
  • Support for chunked transfer encoding.
  • Extended headers and improved cacheability.

• HTTP/2

  • Multiplexing requests over a single TCP connection, reducing delays.
  • Header compression (HPACK) to reduce the amount of data transmitted.
  • Request priorities and server push.

• HTTP/3

  • Based on the QUIC protocol over UDP instead of TCP.
  • Fast connection setup and improved resilience to packet loss.
  • Enhanced performance on mobile and unstable networks.

Each new version improves performance, reliability, and data transfer efficiency compared to the previous one.