HTTP/1.1 forced browsers to open six connections per server just to load pages at reasonable speed. HTTP/2 multiplexing finally let them be honest—one connection, many simultaneous requests.
HTTP/3 abandons TCP after fifty years—not because TCP failed, but because its guarantee of ordered delivery became a liability when the web started doing everything at once.
HTTP forces you to ask before you can receive. WebSockets flip the script—either side can talk whenever they have something to say.
SSE is HTTP that never hangs up—the server keeps the line open and talks whenever it has something to say. Simpler than WebSockets when you only need updates flowing one direction.
gRPC lets you call functions on remote servers as if they were local. The network disappears—what remains is a function call that happens to execute somewhere else.
REST says the server decides what you get. GraphQL says the client decides what it needs. Understanding this fundamental difference reveals when each approach serves you—and when it fights you.
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