tobySolutions/http-server-rust

A lightweight, concurrent HTTP server built from scratch in Rust, supporting GET and POST methods, file operations, and request header parsing. Features include path-based routing, file handling, and concurrent connection management.

HTTP Server in Rust

A ground-up implementation of an HTTP/1.1 server in Rust, demonstrating low-level networking, concurrent programming, and file system operations.

Features

• HTTP/1.1 Protocol Support: Implements core HTTP/1.1 specifications
• Concurrent Connections: Handles multiple client connections simultaneously using Rust's threading
• Request Routing: Supports multiple endpoints including:
  • / - Basic server health check
  • /echo/{string} - Echoes back the provided string
  • /user-agent - Returns the client's User-Agent
  • /files/{filename} - File operations (GET and POST)
• File Operations:
  • GET: Retrieve file contents
  • POST: Create new files with provided content
• Header Processing: Handles standard HTTP headers including Content-Type and Content-Length

Technical Details

• Built using Rust's standard library
• Uses TcpListener for network communication
• Implements thread-based concurrency
• Handles both static and dynamic responses
• Supports binary file content via application/octet-stream

Usage

Building the Server

cargo build --release

Running the Server

Basic server start:

./target/release/http-server

With file directory support:

./target/release/http-server --directory /path/to/files

Example Requests

GET request:

curl -v http://localhost:4221/

Echo endpoint:

curl -v http://localhost:4221/echo/hello-world

File upload:

curl -v --data "content" -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" http://localhost:4221/files/example.txt

Implementation Details

• TCP Connection Handling: Uses Rust's TcpListener for accepting connections
• Request Parsing: Custom implementation of HTTP request parsing
• Response Formation: Properly formatted HTTP responses with headers
• Concurrency: Thread-per-connection model for handling multiple clients
• Error Handling: Robust error handling for file operations and network issues

Learning Outcomes

This project demonstrates:

• Low-level networking in Rust
• HTTP protocol implementation
• Concurrent programming patterns
• File system operations
• Error handling in network applications
• Request/Response parsing and formatting

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!