Benefits of HTTP/2

The page load speed is very important for the user not to leave your site before it’s loaded. Any unnecessary slowdown is a problem. Nearly half of the people expect that the page will be fully loaded within 2 seconds. Every second of slowdown will cost you 1-3% of your turnover. In short, the slower the web, the greater the loss.

One of the factors affecting web speed is the protocol used to communicate between the server and the browser. Our applications use the HTTP/2 protocol, which, unlike the previous HTTP/1.1 protocol, can speed up page loading multiple times, depending on the application structure.

Example of loading 200 small pictures using protocol HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2
Source: http://www.http2demo.io

How does it work

HTTP/2 improves older protocol and answers the call for the changes in web page development.

Change from text protocol to binary which is better for data transfer and error prone
Using header compression which decrease volume of transferred data
Enable multiplexing - simultaneous requests handling. It is not necessary to wait for the previous request to be processed and for example all images can be downloaded at once. The server simply sends all requests in one connection and thus it’s faster

Multiplexing demonstration
Source: https://css-tricks.com

Security first

Nowadays, the use of encrypted HTTPS connection is the absolute standard - you can know it from the address bar where it is marked with a lock symbol. Web server encrypts communication using asymmetric cryptographic algorithms which uses the SSL certificate installed on the server for each domain name. If your site doesn't use an encrypted connection, the latest versions of each visitor's browser warn you that the connection is not secure and can be dangerous.

The HTTP/2 protocol is actually the successor to HTTPS, which is built on the oldest version of HTTP/1.1. Therefore, all modern HTTP/2 connections are secure.

Will it work for me? It will!

HTTP/2 is supported by all modern browsers. If you are using a browser that does not support HTTP/2 communication, the web will also work for you but it will run on the older HTTP/1.1 protocol and the loading speed will be slower.