An HTTP server, that runs... in the browser*.
*requires natively running bridge, browsers can't do TCP
- Parsing HTTP requests
- Responding to HTTP requests
- Technically it can serve images and other media
- Simultaneously handling multiple clients
- Detecting invalid requests and responding accordingly
First, run npm i to install dependencies.
To start the bridge (we'll need it later), run:
npm start
Now, start python's http.server:
python3 -m http.server 8000
note: don't use port 8080 or 8081
Then, open http://127.0.0.1:8000/. This will start the server. I know, it's getting complicated.
You should see a "connected to bridge" message.
Now you can open http://127.0.0.1:8080/, which will display a Hello World served from your browser, and displayed... also... in... your browser.
As weird as that may sound, it totally works. Somehow.
You can also use curl:
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/ -v
You should see all the headers displayed, followed by <h1>Hello World!</h1>.
The bridge we started allows the browser to listen on TCP ports. It basically acts as a kind of "pipe", that on one side accepts TCP connections, and communicates with the browser through a websocket on the other side.
Here's what a communication between the two sides might look like:
// -> = bridge to browser
// <- = browser to bridge
-> {"type":"msg","data":"connected"} // client connects
-> {"type":"data","data":[97,97,97,97]} // client sends "aaaa"
<- {"type":"data","data":[65,65,65,65]} // server responds with "AAAA"
-> {"type":"msg","data":"disconnected"} // client disconnects
As you can see, these "packets" are JSON objects. This allows the bridge to communicate messages like a client disconnecting to the browser. Additionally, the browser can also send commands to the bridge, but this feature is currently not used anywhere.
When a client connects and sends some data, that data is sent to the bridge, which forwards it over to the browser.
The data gets to the browser, it's parsed, and a response is created, which is then sent back to the bridge, which sends it to the client.
If anyone wants to improve this utterly useless gimmick, pull requests are very welcome.