Introduction
Have you ever used a browser and wondered what actually happens after you press Enter on a URL? Most developers use web frameworks and libraries every day, but very few understand the networking foundations that make the web work. To bridge that gap, I decided to build an HTTP web server from scratch in C.
This project was much more than writing code. It was a journey into sockets, networking, HTTP communication, system design, and low-level programming. By the end of it, I not only understood how web servers work internally but also strengthened my networking fundamentals in a way that tutorials alone could never teach. If you've ever wanted to understand what happens beneath the abstractions of modern frameworks, this project is one of the best ways to do it.
Why Build a Web Server From Scratch?
Modern web development often hides complexity behind frameworks such as Express, Django, Spring Boot, or ASP.NET. While these tools are incredibly productive, they can make networking feel like magic.
