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> No one implements HTTP, JSON, and TLS. > There are libraries for every single language imaginable. These statements are contradictory.

by 1995mike 4y ago

mlyle 4y ago
Only if you're insistent on willfully misreading them. [no application protocol implementer] implements HTTP, JSON, and TLS [because there are well-worn implementations that can just be used for the purpose].
- 1995mike 4y ago
  HTTP is a massive standard that takes thousands of man hours to implement. It's not something that "just exists" out there. I guess maybe the intent is that if you don't have Google writing your standard library you shouldn't even be able to check your mail. I'm not a huge fan of IMAP (I wrote a client implementation for IMAPv4 a long time ago) but it's ridiculous that using what amounts to "SMTP for hypertext" as a transport layer is now common practice.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    HTTP libraries do "just exist" for every usable language because almost everything is based on HTTP. Its a piece of common platform that someone puts the effort once and then you have opened up almost everything relating to network protocols. Basing your protocol on HTTP now means you have an absolutely huge amount of stuff for free. Error handling, encryption, verification, streaming, the whole set of tooling around hosting HTTP protocols like nginx, load balancers, etc. I'd challenge you to find a single production suitable language which _doesn't_ have a http library.
  - mlyle 4y ago
    TCP/IP is a standard that takes a long time to implement well. I've had to implement TCP/IP exactly once in my career (maybe a couple times more if you count just "lobbing" crafted datagrams), but I've just "used" existing implementations hundreds of times. Similarly, HTTP is a big standard that takes a long time to implement well. But very few people will have to implement it: they will use existing implementations.

> No one implements HTTP, JSON, and TLS. > There are libraries for every single language imaginable. These statements are contradictory.

mlyle 4y ago

Only if you're insistent on willfully misreading them. [no application protocol implementer] implements HTTP, JSON, and TLS [because there are well-worn implementations that can just be used for the purpose].

1995mike 4y ago
HTTP is a massive standard that takes thousands of man hours to implement. It's not something that "just exists" out there. I guess maybe the intent is that if you don't have Google writing your standard library you shouldn't even be able to check your mail. I'm not a huge fan of IMAP (I wrote a client implementation for IMAPv4 a long time ago) but it's ridiculous that using what amounts to "SMTP for hypertext" as a transport layer is now common practice.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  HTTP libraries do "just exist" for every usable language because almost everything is based on HTTP. Its a piece of common platform that someone puts the effort once and then you have opened up almost everything relating to network protocols. Basing your protocol on HTTP now means you have an absolutely huge amount of stuff for free. Error handling, encryption, verification, streaming, the whole set of tooling around hosting HTTP protocols like nginx, load balancers, etc. I'd challenge you to find a single production suitable language which _doesn't_ have a http library.
- mlyle 4y ago
  TCP/IP is a standard that takes a long time to implement well. I've had to implement TCP/IP exactly once in my career (maybe a couple times more if you count just "lobbing" crafted datagrams), but I've just "used" existing implementations hundreds of times. Similarly, HTTP is a big standard that takes a long time to implement well. But very few people will have to implement it: they will use existing implementations.