Web technology has become the foundation for all sorts of critical networked applications and far-reaching methods of data exchange, and beneath it all is a fundamental protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. HTTP: The Definitive Guide documents everything that technical people need for using HTTP efficiently-including the "black arts" and "tricks of the trade"-and does so in a clear and readable manner. Written by experts with years of practical and teaching experience, this book is the definitive technical bible on HTTP and related core web technologies because it clearly explains the "why" as well as the "how". A reader can understand how web applications work, how the core Internet protocols and architectural building blocks interact, and how to correctly implement Internet clients and servers. It's an essential toolkit that no technically-inclined member of the Internet community should be without.