Google is continually pushing the boundaries of web innovation and the latest project from the code team definitely does just that. Their mission: To speed up the web.

How: By replacing HTTP with a new web protocol called SPDY (speedy).

Since 1996, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) has been the standard protocol allowing web servers and computer browsers to connect and publish the web page onto your IE or Firefox browser. However, Google thinks they can go one better with SPDY.

To quote Google, SPDY is designed specifically for minimizing latency through features such as multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression.

Google software engineers, Mike Belshe and Roberto Peon explain the project in more detail:

“We want to continue building on the Webs tradition of experimentation and optimization to further support the evolution of websites and browsers. So over the last few months, a few of us here at Google have been experimenting with new ways for Web browsers and servers to speak to each other, resulting in a prototype Web server and Google Chrome client with SPDY support.”

The results so far have been quite impressive. Through initial internal tests with Chrome, Google claims that the top 25 websites in the world can load up to 55% faster with SPDY.

There is no need to worry though, Google isnt simply going to flip the switch in one day and move from HTTP to SPDY. The plan is for it to be a gradual process where SPDY plays a role in addition to HTTP.

Google would like to include you in this experiment and are asking for web community and participation. If you would like to learn more or contribute your feedback to this experiment, then you can get started here.

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Tag: SPDY

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