High-Performance Browser Networking
High-Performance Browser Networking by Ilya Grigorikby Ilya Grigorik
Ranked 3 of 3 networking books by recommenders
People recommend it as an accessible, canonical guide to how the web's networking works for anyone building for the web. The most common caveat is that it predates HTTP/3.
People recommend it as an accessible, canonical guide to how the web's networking works for anyone building for the web. The most common caveat is that it predates HTTP/3.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Accessible, canonical resource for web developers
“an awesome and accessible resource everyone doing anything w the web should read”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Beej's Guide to Learning Computer Science” “is an excellent (canonical?) resource”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Browse Internet Infrastructure” Highly recommended reading
“which is highly recommended btw”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “200 Milliseconds” Interesting, well-linked explanation of networking
“Hpbn is really interesting, thanks for linking it”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: An interactive guide to how browsers work”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Does not cover HTTP/3
“I wish there was an update to this book, reading it a while back I think it covered some proposed HTTP/2 features but definitely not HTTP/3.”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Software Internals Book Club” “covered some proposed HTTP/2 features but definitely not HTTP/3”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Software Internals Book Club”
Other networking books people recommend
The two most recommended other networking books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCP/IP Illustratedby W. Richard Stevens | 7 | 1 | 88% | 6 | — | — |
| The Book of PFby Peter N. M. Hansteen | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| High-Performance Browser Networkingby Ilya GrigorikThis page | 4 | 2 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which is highly recommended btw”
“covered some proposed HTTP/2 features but definitely not HTTP/3”
“I wish there was an update to this book, reading it a while back I think it covered some proposed HTTP/2 features but definitely not HTTP/3.”
“is an excellent (canonical?) resource”
“Hpbn is really interesting, thanks for linking it”
“an awesome and accessible resource everyone doing anything w the web should read”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.