http_web_server

🌐 HTTP Web Server with Berkeley Sockets

Today I rebuilt and earlier attempt at a HTTP web server from scratch using C and Berkeley sockets! Hopefully it now better represents better quality low-level network programming.

What you'll see

When you run this server, you'll get a fully functional web server with:

• Cyberpunk-themed web interface with neon colors and gradients
• Multiple interactive pages - main server info, source code viewer, and 404 error demo
• Real HTTP request/response handling - your browser actually talks to the C program!
• Berkeley sockets implementation - the same networking foundation used by real web servers

The coolest part is watching the terminal output as your browser makes requests - you can see the actual HTTP parsing happening in real-time!

How to run this

cd c/http_web_server

# Build the server
make

# Start the server (runs on port 53557)
./server

# Visit in your browser
http://127.0.0.1:53557

The server will show you live connection logs in the terminal while serving the web interface!

How it works

This implements the complete Berkeley sockets workflow that real web servers use:

1. Create Socket - socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0) creates the network endpoint
2. Bind to Port - bind() attaches the socket to port 53557
3. Listen for Connections - listen() starts accepting incoming requests
4. Accept Clients - accept() handles each browser connection
5. Parse HTTP Requests - Extract the URL path from browser requests
6. Send HTML Responses - Return the cyberpunk-styled web pages
7. Clean Up - Close connections and handle graceful shutdown

The server handles multiple routes: / (main page), /code (source viewer), and any other path triggers a 404 error page.

Try changing this

• Port number (line 10): Change #define PORT 53557 to any port you want
• Buffer size (line 11): Adjust BUFFER_SIZE for larger/smaller requests
• Cyberpunk colors (lines 30-60): Modify the neon color scheme in the CSS
• Add new routes (lines 578-597): Add more pages by extending the send_response() function
• Server title (line 196): Change "HTTP WEB SERVER ONLINE" to your own branding
• Code content (lines 369-553): Update the source code viewer with different functions

What I learned

Building this web server was a huge leap in my C programming journey! I learned:

• Berkeley Sockets API - The foundation of all internet communication, from basic socket() calls to handling multiple connections
• HTTP Protocol - How browsers actually communicate with servers, parsing request headers and sending proper responses
• Network Programming - Understanding TCP/IP, port binding, and client-server architecture
• Memory Management - Handling dynamic buffer allocation for HTTP requests and responses
• Signal Handling - Graceful server shutdown with SIGINT and proper resource cleanup
• Web Development - Creating HTML/CSS interfaces that work with C backend systems

One of the most exciting moments is when you first see the browser successfully connect to the C program - it feels like building the internet from scratch! This is exactly how real web servers work under the hood.

Technical Details

Architecture:

• Single-threaded server handling one connection at a time
• Dynamic HTML content generation with embedded CSS styling
• Proper HTTP response headers and status codes
• Signal handling for clean shutdown with Ctrl+C

Key Functions:

• main() - Sets up the socket, binds to port, and runs the connection loop
• handle_client() - Processes individual browser connections
• parse_request() - Extracts URL paths from HTTP requests
• send_response() - Routes requests to appropriate HTML pages
• handle_signal() - Graceful shutdown when interrupted

Network Concepts:

• TCP/IP socket programming with AF_INET and SOCK_STREAM
• Network byte order conversion with htons()
• HTTP request parsing and response generation
• Connection lifecycle management

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This project represents my transition from basic C programming to building real networked applications - the foundation for understanding how the internet actually works!