BACKEND SYSTEMS
Webserv
Webserv is a production-inspired HTTP/1.1 web server implemented entirely from scratch in modern C++. The objective of the project is to understand how web servers such as Nginx and Apache process requests internally by implementing every major subsystem manually.
YEAR
2023
ROLE
Designed • Developed • Shipped
STACK
01/PROBLEM → SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Many concurrent clients must share one thread; a slow client or leaked socket must not stall the server or exhaust descriptors.
SOLUTION
A poll()-based event loop multiplexes non-blocking client sockets; HTTP parsing, routing, and response building stay synchronized in one loop.
02/SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
How the system fits together
- TCP Listening Socket
- →Event Loop
- →HTTP Parser
- →Router
- →Static File Handler
- →HTTP Response Builder
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03/KEY ENGINEERING DECISIONS
Event Multiplexing
One poll() loop watches all sockets instead of a thread per client, cutting memory and context-switch overhead.
Non-Blocking I/O
Sockets run non-blocking so a slow client cannot pause the server for everyone else.
Layer Separation
Networking is isolated from HTTP parsing and routing so subsystems evolve independently.
04/IMPACT & TAKEAWAYS
HTTP/1.1 Compliant. Implements request/response, methods, headers, and persistent connections by hand over TCP/IPv4.
Feature Set. Virtual servers, routing, CGI execution, file uploads, and custom error pages all working.
Concurrency Verified. Hundreds of concurrent client events coordinated through one event-driven loop.