WEBPP

A lightweight HTTP server framework written in C++ from raw POSIX sockets. Built as a learning project in systems programming, WEBPP exposes a simple Express-style routing API for serving static files and handling HTTP requests without any third-party networking libraries.

Note: This is an experimental project. It has been run in production (briefly hosted its own documentation site) but is not battle-hardened — expect rough edges around concurrency and error handling.

Features

• HTTP server built from raw socket programming (no Boost.Asio, no libuv)
• Express-style route registration with add_route()
• Static file serving with MIME type hints
• URL parameter support via URL_PARAMETERS
• Separate start() (local) and deploy() (server) modes
• Built and installed as a shared library via CMake

Requirements

• C++11 or later
• CMake 3.x+
• POSIX-compatible OS (Linux / macOS)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/graemegilmourbates/webpp.git
cd webpp
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
sudo make install

This installs the WEBPP library and headers to your system's default prefix. When compiling your own project, link against -lwebpp. A compile script is included in the demo/ folder for reference.

Usage

#include <WEBPP/webpp.hpp>

void home_page(RESPONDER &res, REQUEST &req, URL_PARAMETERS params) {
    res.send_file("pages/app.html", "html");
}

int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) {
    WEBPP::Server server;
    server.add_route("/", home_page);

    if (argc > 1 && std::string(argv[1]) == "deploy") {
        server.deploy();  // bind to 0.0.0.0 for external access
    } else {
        server.start();   // local development mode
    }

    return 0;
}

Compile against the installed library:

g++ -std=c++11 main.cpp -lwebpp -o myapp

Or see demo/ for an example compile script.

Project Structure

webpp/
├── include/        # Public headers (webpp.hpp, etc.)
├── src/            # Server, request/response, router implementation
├── demo/           # Example application and compile script
├── CMakeLists.txt
└── webpp.pc.in     # pkg-config template

Known Limitations

• No multithreading — the server handles one connection at a time; sustained load will back up quickly
• No keep-alive — each request opens and closes a connection
• Minimal HTTP compliance — basic GET/response cycle works; edge cases in headers and chunked encoding are unhandled
• No TLS — plaintext HTTP only

These are the main reasons it crashed under real traffic. Contributions welcome.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. Open an issue first to discuss anything you'd like to change or add. You can also reach out directly at graeme.gilmour.bates@gmail.com.

License

MIT