🚀 Web Server From Scratch

This is a lightweight HTTP web server built in C from the ground up. If you want to learn how web servers work under the hood this is the resource that you're looking for!

✨ Features

Currently this server support multiple features such as,

• 📁 Serve Static Files — Effortlessly serve HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and more
• 🎯 MIME Type Support — Automatic content-type detection for proper file rendering
• ⚙️ Custom Port Configuration — Launch your server on any port you prefer
• 💻 Lightweight — Minimal dependencies, pure C implementation
• 🔧 Easy to Use — Simple command-line interface with intuitive options

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• GCC compiler
• Linux/Unix environment (uses POSIX.1)

Building

gcc -o web_server main.c

Running

./web_server -p 3000

Then open your browser and visit:

http://localhost:3000

📂 Project Structure

web_server/
├── main.c              # Core server implementation
├── public/             # Static files directory
│   ├── index.html      # Home page
│   ├── style.css       # Styling
│   └── script.js       # Frontend logic
└── utils/
    └── filehelper.c    # Utility functions for file handling & MIME types

🔍 How It Works

1. Server Setup — Binds to a TCP socket and listens for incoming connections
2. Request Parsing — Reads HTTP requests from clients
3. File Serving — Locates requested files in the public/ directory
4. MIME Detection — Automatically detects file type and sets correct content-type headers
5. Response Sending — Sends HTTP responses with proper headers and file content

📝 Key Features Explained

Auto MIME Type Detection

The server intelligently detects file types:

• .html, .htm → text/html
• .css → text/css
• .js → application/javascript
• .png, .jpg, .gif → Image types
• And many more...

Custom Port Support

Start your server on any port with the -p flag:

./web_server -p 5000

🛠️ Building Blocks

• Socket Programming — TCP/IP communication
• HTTP Protocol — Request/response handling
• File I/O — Reading and serving file content
• String Manipulation — Parsing HTTP requests and building responses
• Memory Management — Efficient allocation and cleanup

🤝 Contributing

I'll add these features later but you are feel free to extend this project! Some ideas such as:

• Add support for multiple concurrent clients (threading)
• Implement POST request handling
• Add basic routing
• Support for CGI scripts
• Performance optimizations

📜 License

This project is provided as-is for educational purposes.

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⭐ Made with passion for learning low-level networking!