Architecture of the World Wide Web

W3C has just published a 'draft' verion of some guidelines for the www architecture.
Very deep and detailed document.

The World Wide Web is a networked information system. Web Architecture consists of the requirements, constraints, principles, and choices that influence the design of the system and the behavior of agents within the system. When Web Architecture is followed, the large-scale effect is that of an efficient, scalable, shared information space. The organization of this document reflects the three divisions of Web architecture: identification, representation, and interaction. This document also addresses some non-technical (social) issues that play a role in building the shared information space.

This document strives to establish a reference set of requirements, constraints, principles, and design choices for Web architecture.

• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. About this Document
    • 1.1.1. Scope of this Document
• 2. Identification and Resources
  • 2.1. Comparing Identifiers
    • Spelling URIs [practice]
  • 2.2. URI Schemes
    • New URI schemes [practice]
  • 2.3. URI Authority
  • 2.4. Fragment Identifiers
    • Content negotiation with fragments [practice]
    • 2.4.1. Fragment identifiers and content negotiation
      • Content negotiation with fragments [practice]
  • 2.5. Dereferencing a URI
    • Resource descriptions [practice]
    • Safe retrieval [principle]
    • 2.5.1. Retrieving a Representation
      • Resource descriptions [practice]
    • 2.5.2. Safe Interaction
      • Safe retrieval [principle]
  • 2.6. URI Persistence
    • URI Persistence [practice]
  • 2.7. Access Control
  • 2.8. Future Directions for Identifiers
    • 2.8.1. Internationalized identifiers
    • 2.8.2. Determination that two URIs identify the same resource
    • 2.8.3. Consistency of fragment identifier semantics among different media types
    • 2.8.4. Work on dynamic authority delegation
    • 2.8.5. Non-hierarchical administration
• 3. Representations
  • 3.1. Relation to MIME headers
  • 3.2. Characteristics of formats and their specifications
    • 3.2.1. Desirable Characteristics of Format Specifications
    • 3.2.2. Taxonomic Categorization of Data Formats
    • 3.2.3. Presentation, Content, and Interaction
    • 3.2.4. Embedding Hyperlinks in Representations
  • 3.3. XML-Based Representations
    • 3.3.1. When to Use an XML-Based Format
    • 3.3.2. XML Namespaces
    • 3.3.3. Namespace Documents
    • 3.3.4. Fragment identifiers and ID semantics
    • 3.3.5. Media Types for XML
  • 3.4. Future Directions for Representations
    • 3.4.1. Namespace document formats
• 4. Interaction
• 5. Glossary
  • 5.1. Principles, Constraints, etc.
• 6. Index
• 7. References
  • 7.1. Normative References
  • 7.2. Architectural Specifications
  • 7.3. Non-Normative References
• 8. End Notes
• 9. Acknowledgments