Thread

We just shipped support for the ugliest part of HTTP: Vary

150 points · 40 comments · thisisfatih

colmmacc · 1790220821 · focus · HN ↗
Wow this brings back memories. Over twenty years ago I added Vary support to various mod_cache submodules for Apache 2.0, and it was way too high a pain to reward ratio. It just uncovered so many user agent bugs and crazy backends. I remember arguments about being able to cache variable based on non-literal virtual headers (e.g. a geo location header), and a crazy request to Vary based on "Date:" ... which makes absolutely no sense. The whole thing was just too clever for its own good. It's no surprise that language selection ended up in URLs (/en-US/..) rather than "Vary: Accept-Lang" features.
1. Gigachad · 1790221070 · focus · HN ↗
  I feel like putting as much as possible in the URL is a good thing anyway. If I send someone a link, I can know it's the same document that shows on their browser as mine.
  1. KyleTheDev · 1790265788 · focus · HN ↗
    Yea, from a UX perspective, being able to send your friend a URL and know that they're seeing exactly what you see is awesome. It makes support/debugging/etc nicer too, if you're trying to walk somebody through something.

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