Last week, both Sam Ruby and Bill de hÓra cited Mark Pilgrim’s post Dive into history, 2009 edition, about the history of his book Dive Into Python and its future – now that his publisher has commissioned Dive Into Python 3, it’s a series.
It’s a very insightful post about how the web has evolved over the past ten years, and about XML and HTML. But I was intrigued by the fact that both of these thoughtful technologists cited the same line:
“HTML is not an output format. HTML is The Format.”
de hÓra included one more sentence: “Not The Eternal Format, but damn if it isn’t The Format Of The Now.” and he suggested in the comments: “The Format Of The Long Now.”
This is great stuff, and it spurred a thought of my own: if HTML is The Format Of The Now, or even The Long Now, then perhaps HTTP, its counterpart, is The Protocol Of The Now. Maybe even The Long Now.
This thought is intriguing to me, because I’m in the business of building HTTP applications. And I believe that it’s important that people using HTTP understand its underlying architectural style, REST. I find REST and the debate and discussion around it fascinating. To see people grappling with its ideas, and trying to integrate it into their own mental model of how software works, is really quite… fascinating.
I think HTTP really might be The Protocol of the Long Now, and I look forward to seeing whether things actually turn out that way.