Editing 869: Server Attention Span
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The comic shows - in human language - part of the conversations that a browser and web server do in order to get the right page. The protocol they use is called {{w|Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP}}. | The comic shows - in human language - part of the conversations that a browser and web server do in order to get the right page. The protocol they use is called {{w|Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP}}. | ||
| β | This comic makes fun of the issues that would arise back in the early days of smartphones days when web-servers see a mobile browser. Often, they would automatically suggest to load the mobile version of the website, but then serve the front page of the mobile site and not the page the user had requested. In quite a few sites, there would be no 1-to-1 correspondence of pages between the regular and the mobile site, so this problem is difficult to solve and very annoying. Since the date of this comic, mobile versions of websites have improved significantly, so the types of problems discussed in the comic rarely happen | + | This comic makes fun of the issues that would arise back in the early days of smartphones days when web-servers see a mobile browser. Often, they would automatically suggest to load the mobile version of the website, but then serve the front page of the mobile site and not the page the user had requested. In quite a few sites, there would be no 1-to-1 correspondence of pages between the regular and the mobile site, so this problem is difficult to solve and very annoying. Since the date of this comic, mobile versions of websites have improved significantly, so the types of problems discussed in the comic rarely happen. |
A second issue with HTTP is identified in the last panel. HTTP is a {{w|stateless protocol}}. After serving the web page, the connection is severed. Any new request for a page will have to start afresh - which is where the server starts with again: "Hi! I'm a server!" Of course, browsers do not have egos nor do they hold grudges{{Citation needed}} but it can be annoying for users. This design issue can also slow down the browsing experience. | A second issue with HTTP is identified in the last panel. HTTP is a {{w|stateless protocol}}. After serving the web page, the connection is severed. Any new request for a page will have to start afresh - which is where the server starts with again: "Hi! I'm a server!" Of course, browsers do not have egos nor do they hold grudges{{Citation needed}} but it can be annoying for users. This design issue can also slow down the browsing experience. | ||
