🌐 About the project
This was a really cool project where I built an HTTP server from scratch as part of the CodeCrafters challenge.
The goal was to create a server capable of:
- Handling GET and POST requests
- Serving files directly from the file system
- Managing multiple simultaneous connections via
threading - Implementing content compression with gzip
- Maintaining persistent connections between client and server
All of this using only pure Python, without frameworks or external libraries, which forced a deep understanding of the HTTP protocol and network operation.
🛠️ How it was developed
The stack was minimalist and learning-focused:
- Python 3 as the main language
- TCP Sockets for low-level communication
- Threading to handle multiple clients in parallel
- Manual manipulation of the HTTP protocol (headers, message body)
Each stage of the project required mastery of fundamental concepts, from parsing requests to generating responses byte by byte.
💡 Main learnings
Throughout the development, I deepened my knowledge in several important areas:
- Incremental data reception with
recv(), understanding that the network can deliver incomplete packets - Gzip and content compression, responding correctly according to the
Accept-Encodingheader - HTTP/1.1 connection persistence, keeping the socket open for multiple requests
- Organization of a multithreaded server with care to avoid conflicts or performance losses
Additionally, each new feature was guided by CodeCrafters’ own automated tests.
🧱 Challenges overcome
- Ensuring that HTTP headers were parsed correctly, even with variations in fields and formats
- Managing synchronization between simultaneous requests, using threads without locking up the server
- Implementing appropriate responses with status codes, respecting the correct semantics of each verb
- Managing file writing and reading with security and proper path validation
Each of these points required testing and quite a bit of trial and error.
🔁 Next steps
With the foundation ready, I have plans to expand this server:
- Add support for HTTPS with TLS/SSL certificates
- Create accessible and well-structured logs for each request
- Add support for dynamic routes and middlewares
- Explore the use of WebSockets for real-time communication