HTTP/2: Streams and Multiplexing

In today's world of the internet, the speed of loading web pages and transferring data is very vital. For this reason, the HTTP protocol, recognized as one of the most important web protocols, is continuously being improved and changed. In recent years, one of these advancements, namely HTTP/2, has been introduced.

HTTP/2 is designed to improve the efficiency and speed of data transmission. In this protocol, the concept of streams and multiplexing has been heavily emphasized to allow multiple HTTP requests to be managed simultaneously.

A stream in HTTP/2 means a bi-directional communication channel that can send and receive data separately. This method allows for avoiding the need to wait for a single data transmission to complete before sending another. By using multiplexing, HTTP/2 can send multiple streams through a single TCP connection, which significantly increases network efficiency.

In simple terms, multiplexing allows the server to permit sending multiple streams over a single connection. This feature reduces delays and increases loading speed since there is no need to wait for the completion of other streams.

Here, we have reviewed some key features of HTTP/2, including streams and multiplexing. Now, let's take a look at a simple code example that demonstrates some of these concepts:

GET /index.html HTTP/2\r\nHost: example.com\r\n

Here’s a simple example of sending a request to a server using HTTP/2. Now, let's analyze what each line of this code means: