What are the Rfcs?

Question

In questions related to HTTP protocol it is very common to see reference to one or more RFC...

• But what they are?

• Are only related to HTTP?

• Some are referenced as obsolete, which are the current ones?

Answer 1

Requests For Comments. It’s an idea created by IETF, the body that usually defines how things should work on the internet or networks in general. But anyone can propose Rfcs. Sure to win an official universal number has a Conformation process by RFC editors. Is there a pattern of how an RFC should be written, and guess how you find that out? Reading a...

They are documents that indicate how something should work or something that has information relevant to everyone. It is often something like a specification, but less formal and open to others to participate. It’s not just a technical matter, it also talks about behavior, about patterns that are considered ideal when using the internet, it even has humor in the middle, so RFC is not just about specification and only about the internet.

Some gain so much importance that they saw practically an "informal law". In general, protocols are defined like this and anyone who makes a software using this protocol should follow everything that an RFC determines to communicate well with other agents who follow RFC. HTTP is just one such case.

It is quite common for a new RFC to render the previous ones obsolete, of course, in general it brings everything that is still relevant to the subject or works only as a complement saying in which parts of an older one should no longer be followed. As they function as specification there is a precaution not to break compatibility. Rfcs are immutable, only a new one replaces the old one.

Rfcs index. If you look here at Sopt you have several answers and even questions that speak of them.