HTTP Header Compression Tests

Usage

The test can be run like this:

./compare_compressors.py [options] list-of-har-files

See the HAR specification, and our collected sample HAR files.

The most important option is -c, which specifies what compressors to run. Current codecs include:

• http1_gzip - gzip compression of HTTP1.x headers
• spdy3 - SPDY 3's gzip-based compression
• delta - draft-rpeon-httpbis-header-compression implementation
• fork - fork a process; see below

Interpreting Text Results

Results will look something like:

* TOTAL: 1012 req messages
                  size  time | ratio min   max   std
   http1       830,970  0.05 | 1.00  1.00  1.00  0.00
  simple       320,883  0.05 | 0.39  0.07  0.92  0.24
   spdy3        85,492  0.06 | 0.10  0.03  0.66  0.08

* TOTAL: 1012 res messages
                  size  time | ratio min   max   std
   http1       424,075  0.04 | 1.00  1.00  1.00  0.00
  simple       176,216  0.12 | 0.42  0.11  0.95  0.12
   spdy3        80,706  0.07 | 0.19  0.04  0.68  0.09

The 'size' column shows how many bytes the compression algorithm outputs; 'time' shows how much CPU time it roughly took; 'ratio' shows the ratio to the baseline (http1, by default), and the 'min', 'max' and 'std; columns show the minimum, maximum and standard deviations of the ratios, respectively.

Showing Message Graphs

When the "-t" option is used, TSV output is created. E.g.,

./compare_compressors.py -t my.har

This will create two TSV files, req.tsv and res.tsv, that can then be displayed by the display_tsv.html file. See an example.

Adding New Compression Algorithms

If you wish to implement a new codec, there are two easy approaches.

1. Develop it in Python. New modules should be subdirectories of 'compressor', and should inherit from BaseProcessor there.

2. Develop it in another language, and use the 'fork' module to execute it in a separate process. See 'sample_exec_codec.py' for an example of this; it can be run like this:

   ./compare_compressors.py -c fork="sample_exec_codec.py" file.har

NOTE WELL

Any submission to the IETF intended by the Contributor for publication as all or part of an IETF Internet-Draft or RFC and any statement made within the context of an IETF activity is considered an "IETF Contribution". Such statements include oral statements in IETF sessions, as well as written and electronic communications made at any time or place, which are addressed to:

• The IETF plenary session
• The IESG, or any member thereof on behalf of the IESG
• Any IETF mailing list, including the IETF list itself, any working group or design team list, or any other list functioning under IETF auspices
• Any IETF working group or portion thereof
• Any Birds of a Feather (BOF) session
• The IAB or any member thereof on behalf of the IAB
• The RFC Editor or the Internet-Drafts function
• All IETF Contributions are subject to the rules of RFC 5378 and RFC 3979 (updated by RFC 4879).

Statements made outside of an IETF session, mailing list or other function, that are clearly not intended to be input to an IETF activity, group or function, are not IETF Contributions in the context of this notice.

Please consult RFC 5378 and RFC 3979 for details.

A participant in any IETF activity is deemed to accept all IETF rules of process, as documented in Best Current Practices RFCs and IESG Statements.

A participant in any IETF activity acknowledges that written, audio and video records of meetings may be made and may be available to the public.