In the Web’s first years, HTTP’s simple request/response model made “real-time” feel out of reach. This chapter traces the early interface patterns—HTTP/0.9, evolving headers, and CGI scripts—that set the stage for later solutions like the WebSocket API.
Long before Web Workers existed, early 1990s browsers and HTTP libraries faced the same problem: how to avoid locking up the user experience while fetching and processing network data. This chapter traces the API roots that later made true background processing possible.
In 1990–1994, the Web didn’t have a Canvas API—yet early HTTP interfaces, URLs, MIME types, and server-side image generation established the core API patterns that later enabled rich visual web applications.
Long before browsers exposed precise location, early HTTP servers and CGI scripts (1990–1994) improvised “where are you?” signals using IP addresses, DNS, and user input—foundational ideas that later shaped the Geolocation API and modern contextual web experiences.
In the Web’s first years (1990–1994), there was no localStorage, no IndexedDB, and not even JavaScript. Yet developers still needed state. This chapter traces how early HTTP interfaces, forms, and the first cookie experiments pushed the Web toward browser storage APIs and richer client applications.
In the early 1990s, the Web didn’t have RSS or Atom—but it did have the core ingredients of syndication APIs: stable URLs, machine-friendly representations, and repeatable retrieval via HTTP. This chapter traces how early HTTP interfaces and publishing habits made feeds inevitable.
Long before “webhooks” became a common term, the early Web (1990–1994) introduced patterns—HTTP endpoints, CGI scripts, gateways, and server-generated callbacks—that made event-driven integration possible.
In the Web’s earliest years (1990–1994), “APIs” weren’t yet a mainstream product—but HTTP endpoints already needed protection. This chapter traces how rate limiting quietly became a security and business tool as early servers faced scarce resources, buggy clients, and the first automated traffic.
From password-protected directories to CGI scripts that behaved like proto-APIs, the early Web (1990–1994) experimented with access control long before the industry standardized API keys and developer portals.
In the early 1990s, the Web had HTTP requests and shared documents—but not “web APIs” or delegated authorization. This chapter traces the authorization reality of 1990–1994 and explains how those constraints foreshadowed OAuth 2.0.