HTTP Essentials: Protocols for Secure, Scaleable Web Sites

Rating:
Summary: Clear and Readable from Start to Finish
Review: An excellent book for learning HTTP and much more about how web servers work at the protocol level. What you can learn in a few hours from this book is amazing because it is organized so well, the author is a gifted teacher with an excellent roadmap of what he wants to present, and the hierarchy of overview and detail is so well designed. The book covers the context in which the HTTP protocol resides, the details of HTTP itself, and then branches into important usages of HTTP for creating secure, reliable and scalable web sites.

Rating:
Summary: If you really want to understand web traffic....
Review: Get this book. It reads a whole lot better than the spec. The language is so straightforward that your grandmother might enjoy reading it too. It comes with a dictionary of exception codes too, so you'll never be left scratching your head if a few important message packets begin to burp on their way to Paris via Kuala Lumpur.

Rating:
Summary: If you really want to understand web traffic....
Review: Get this book. It reads a whole lot better than the spec. The language is so straightforward that your grandmother might enjoy reading it too. It comes with a dictionary of exception codes too, so you'll never be left scratching your head if a few important message packets begin to burp on their way to Paris via Kuala Lumpur.

Rating:
Summary: good introduction to HTTP and webserver tech
Review: I,as a university student with great interest to HTTP,borrow this book from school library. This book gives me basic and clear concept about http operations between client and server and stuff behind the scene. a list of explanation of http message and header is heleful too. later, the author writes very detail about proxy server,caching server and how the webserver are build for serious commercial use.
I am able to finish 2/3 of this book in 3 days. it's so interesting and keeps me reading on.

This is definitely a book to get you start with all kind of term for HTTP and a grasp for HTTP/Webserver concept.

for ppl with solid backgroud on HTTP, i would recommend the "HTTP: The Definitive Guide".

Rating:
Summary: Don't miss it
Review: If you work in web development you can't miss this book. Two words: complete and clear. Buy IT!

Rating:
Summary: A great resource for web application developers
Review: This is a great book for those who want to build a solid foundation on building web applications. It contains detail information on the origin and structure of the HTTP protocol. It also explains the various security mechanisms behind HTTP, such as SSL and TLS.

When I was reading this book, I was also building a web application using WININET API and ASP, and I realized that many important concepts would be quite difficult to understand without applying them on an application, especially concepts related to proxy and SSL. If you do not have experience with web applications, I recommend building one while reading this book.

This book does not provide any examples on building a web application. If you are a VB programmer and you are new to web applications, I would recommend reading "VB Internet Programming" and "Beginning ASP 3.0" along with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introductory Text
Review: This is an excellent introductory text to HTTP, and clears away some of the gaps for experienced web developers as well. The author writes clearly and is easily understood.