107 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
107 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
# cHTTP
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cHTTP is an HTTP **client and server** library for C with minimal dependencies and **distributed as a single chttp.c** file.
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## Getting Started
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The library is distributed in a single amalgamated `chttp.c` file or as a static library, so you can:
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1) Download `chttp.c` and `chttp.h` from the repository (no need to close the project)
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2) or clone the project and build the static library my running
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```
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make libchttp.a
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```
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If you used the amalgamated files, this are the flags required to build a project with cHTTP:
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```bash
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# Linux (no HTTPS)
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gcc your_app.c chttp.c
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# Windows (no HTTPS)
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gcc your_app.c chttp.c -lws2_32
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# Linux (with HTTPS)
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gcc your_app.c chttp.c -DHTTPS_ENABLED -lssl -lcrypto
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# Windows (with HTTPS)
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gcc your_app.c chttp.c -DHTTPS_ENABLED -lssl -lcrypto -lws2_32
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```
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Ff you are using the static library, instead if adding `chttp.c`, you will need to add the `-lchttp` flag.
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## Features & Limitations
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* HTTP 1.1 client and server
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* Fully non-blocking
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* Cross-Platform (Windows & Linux)
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* HTTPS support (using OpenSSL)
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* Virtual Hosts
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* Single-threaded
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* Zero-copy interface
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## Example
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Here is a client performing a GET request:
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```c
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#include <stdio.h>
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#include <chttp.h>
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int main(void)
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{
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http_global_init();
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HTTP_String url = HTTP_STR("http://example.com/index.html");
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HTTP_String headers[] = {
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HTTP_STR("User-Agent: cHTTP"),
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};
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HTTP_Response *res = http_get(url, headers, 1);
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fwrite(res->body.ptr, 1, res->body.len, stdout);
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http_response_free(res);
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http_global_free();
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return 0;
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}
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```
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And this is a server:
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```c
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#include <chttp.h>
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int main(void)
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{
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http_global_init();
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HTTP_Server *server = http_server_init(HTTP_STR("127.0.0.1"), 8080);
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for (;;) {
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HTTP_Request *req;
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HTTP_ResponseBuilder builder;
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http_server_wait(server, &req, &builder);
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http_response_builder_status(builder, 200);
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http_response_builder_header(builder, "Content-Type: text/plain");
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http_response_builder_body(builder, HTTP_STR("Hello, world!"));
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http_response_builder_done(builder);
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}
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http_server_free(server);
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http_global_free();
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return 0;
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}
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```
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## Platform Support
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cHTTP officially supports Linux and Windows.
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## HTTPS support
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Currently, HTTPS is implemented using OpenSSL which comes preinstalled on Linux but not Windows. It must be enabled by passing the `-DHTTPS_ENABLED` flag to gcc when building your program:
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## Scalability
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cHTTP is designed to reach moderate scale to allow a compact and easy to work with implementation. The non-blocking I/O is based on `poll()` which I would say works up to about 500 concurrent connections. If you have more than that, you should consider APIs like epoll, io_uring,
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and I/O completion ports. If you do go that route, you can still reuse the cHTTP I/O independent core (see HTTP_Engine) to handle the HTTP protocol for you, both for client and server.
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