HTTP compression is a capability that can be built into web servers and web clients to make better use of available bandwidth, and provide greater transmission speeds between both.
HTTP data is compressed before it is sent from the server: compliant browsers will announce what methods are supported to the server before downloading the correct format; browsers that do not support compliant compression method will download uncompressed data. The most common compression schemas include gzip and deflate, however a full list of available schemas is maintained by IANA. Additionally, third parties develop new methods and include them in their products (e.g. the Google SDCH schema implemented in Google Chrome browser and used on certain Google servers).
Read more about HTTP Compression: Problems Preventing The Use of HTTP Compression, Client/Server Compression Scheme Negotiation, Content-coding Tokens, Servers That Support HTTP Compression
Famous quotes containing the word compression:
“Do they [the publishers of Murphy] not understand that if the book is slightly obscure it is because it is a compression and that to compress it further can only make it more obscure?”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)