The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-level protocol that makes the World Wide Web tick. HTTP is what makes viewing hypermedia (text, graphics, etc.) documents and other material on the Web possible. Despite the apparent complexity of the Web, the HTTP protocol is surprisingly simple. The HTTP/1.0 specifications, reprinted here, ensure that the Web and its users can communicate. The HTTP/1.0 specifications are useful to those actively working in creating Web sites, maintaining Web servers, or writing desktop programs that interact with the Web.This book also includes an overview of the HTTP protocol defined in 1992 by Tim Berners-Lee, who created the HTTP standard used today on the Web. This historical document is useful in understanding the means and methodologies used to define the HTTP protocol. The specifications for SMIL has been prepared by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Both are independent, international standards bodies devoted to furthering the technologies used on the World Wide Web.