HTTP/1.0 Draft 3 defines both 0.9 and 1.0 ?

In section 3.1 of HTTP/1.0 Draft 3, it states:

  The version of an HTTP message is indicated by an HTTP-Version field
  in the first line of the message. If the protocol version is not
  specified, the recipient must assume that the message is in the
  simple HTTP/0.9 format.

       HTTP-Version   = "HTTP" "/" 1*DIGIT "." 1*DIGIT

  Note that the major and minor numbers should be treated as separate
  integers and that each may be incremented higher than a single digit.
  Thus, HTTP/2.4 is a lower version than HTTP/2.13, which in turn is
  lower than HTTP/12.3. Leading zeros should be ignored by recipients
  and never generated by senders.

  This document defines both the 0.9 and 1.0 versions of the HTTP
  protocol. Applications sending Full-Request or Full-Response
  messages, as defined by this specification, must include an
  HTTP-Version of "HTTP/1.0".


I think there's a mix-up in the first sentence of the last paragraph: the
purpose of HTTP/1.0 Draft 3 is most definitely not to define HTTP/0.9. Its
sole references to HTTP/0.9 address compatibility issues. I therefore propose
these new paragraphs instead:


  The version of an HTTP message is indicated by an HTTP-Version field
  in the first line of the message. If the protocol version is not
  specified, the recipient must assume that the message is in the
  simple HTTP/0.9 format.  Applications sending Full-Request or
  Full-Response messages, as defined by this specification, must
  include an HTTP-Version of "HTTP/1.0".

       HTTP-Version   = "HTTP" "/" 1*DIGIT "." 1*DIGIT

  Note that the major and minor numbers should be treated as separate
  integers and that each may be incremented higher than a single digit.
  Thus, HTTP/2.4 is a lower version than HTTP/2.13, which in turn is
  lower than HTTP/12.3. Leading zeros should be ignored by recipients
  and never generated by senders.

Jean-Philippe

Received on Friday, 15 September 1995 05:39:35 UTC