Browser History (2013)
I don&#x27;t get what he doesn&#x27;t understand: when the user goes back, the browser is supposed to show the document he saw when he left, as it was when he left it (so long as that view hasn&#x27;t expired out of the browser&#x27;s cache completely).  This is intuitively what a user expects, right?<p>&gt; Note: if history list mechanisms unnecessarily prevent users from viewing stale resources, this will tend to force service authors to avoid using HTTP expiration controls and cache controls when they would otherwise like to. Service authors may consider it portant that users not be presented with error messages or warning messages when they use navigation controls (such as BACK) to view previously fetched resources. Even though sometimes such resources ought not to cached, or ought to expire quickly, user interface considerations may force service authors to resort to other means of preventing caching (e.g. “once-only” URLs) in order not to suffer the effects of improperly functioning history mechanisms.<p>I don&#x27;t get what he fails to understand: if the back function obeyed expiration headers, then going back could potentially reload the page, potentially causing a re-GET or even a re-POST.