Why HTTP/3 Replaced TCP with QUIC to Fix Web Protocol Bottlenecks
HTTP/3 is the latest version of the web's core data transfer protocol, built to address fundamental limitations in its predecessor HTTP/2. While HTTP/2 improved on HTTP/1.1 by enabling multiple streams over a single TCP connection, it still suffered from head-of-line blocking — where a lost packet stalls all streams sharing that connection. HTTP/3 resolves this by replacing TCP with QUIC, a transport protocol that runs over UDP and handles streams independently, so one lost packet no longer delays unrelated data. QUIC also reduces connection setup time and supports smoother network migration, such as switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data. The core HTTP semantics — methods, status codes, headers, and caching — remain unchanged; only the underlying transport layer is different.
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