RFC7230

RFC 7230, titled "Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing," is a foundational document in the evolution of the World Wide Web. Published in June 2014 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), it defines the core syntax and semantics of HTTP messages, specifically focusing on the structure of requests and responses. This RFC supersedes RFC 2616, which had been the primary standard for HTTP/1.1 for many years.

The document details the structure of HTTP headers, message bodies, and the methods used for communication. It clarifies how clients and servers should interpret and process these messages, ensuring interoperability across different web applications and systems. Key aspects covered include the definition of header fields, the parsing rules for requests and responses, and the handling of various transfer codings. RFC 7230 is crucial for understanding how data is exchanged over the internet and serves as a primary reference for web developers and network engineers working with HTTP. Its publication was part of a larger effort to update and modularize the HTTP specification into several distinct RFCs.