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Google’s QUIC protocol, which implements TCP-like properties at the application layer atop a UDP transport, is now used by the vast majority of Chrome clients a

Google’s QUIC protocol, which implements TCP-like properties at the application layer atop a UDP transport, is now used by the vast majority of Chrome clients accessing Google properties but has no formal state machine specification, limited analysis, and ad-hoc evaluations based on snapshots of the protocol implementation in a small number of environments. Further frustrating attempts to evaluate QUIC is the fact that the protocol is under rapid development, with extensive rewriting of the protocol occurring over the scale of months, making individual studies of the protocol obsolete before publication. I had no idea QUIC was so poorly specified (at least outside of the walls of Google).

api 9y ago
Not uncommon for a new protocol. Question is whether they will get around to it.
- akshayn 9y ago
  I think this is unlikely. Part of the advantage of having built your own datapath is being able to change it on a whim; I don't see Google giving this up by agreeing to stick to some fixed specification.
  - euyyn 9y ago
    It's to be expected from any protocol for which this is true: > the protocol is under rapid development, with extensive rewriting of the protocol occurring over the scale of months Once it stabilizes, I don't see a reason why it couldn't go the same route SPDY -> HTTP/2 did. A faster internet is a win for Google. (I work at Google, but I'm not aware of the QUIC team's plans).
  - JulienSchmidt 9y ago
    After Google presented the protocol to the IETF several months ago, a working group was formed: https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/quic/about/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/quic/about/ / https://quicwg.github.io/ https://quicwg.github.io/ There will soon be a standardized version of QUIC with a fixed specification, probably by the end of next year. I guess Google will still continue to experiment, but then probably based on the standardized version.

api 9y ago

Not uncommon for a new protocol. Question is whether they will get around to it.

akshayn 9y ago
I think this is unlikely. Part of the advantage of having built your own datapath is being able to change it on a whim; I don't see Google giving this up by agreeing to stick to some fixed specification.
- euyyn 9y ago
  It's to be expected from any protocol for which this is true: > the protocol is under rapid development, with extensive rewriting of the protocol occurring over the scale of months Once it stabilizes, I don't see a reason why it couldn't go the same route SPDY -> HTTP/2 did. A faster internet is a win for Google. (I work at Google, but I'm not aware of the QUIC team's plans).
- JulienSchmidt 9y ago
  After Google presented the protocol to the IETF several months ago, a working group was formed: https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/quic/about/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/quic/about/ / https://quicwg.github.io/ https://quicwg.github.io/ There will soon be a standardized version of QUIC with a fixed specification, probably by the end of next year. I guess Google will still continue to experiment, but then probably based on the standardized version.