HTTP Server From Scratch in Go

Github

This project began as a CodeCrafters challenge to implement an HTTP server from scratch in Go. I went through all stages of the challenge, learning along the way and always diving deeper to have a better understanding of the protocol. I even read and consulted parts of the RFC when in doubt, possibly the first time I actually read an RFC.

Beyond the CodeCrafters challenge I went deeper and added more features to turn it into a full-fledged learning project.

I used net.Listen() from the stdlib for TCP connection handling and built my server around that, having then to implement on my own:

• HTTP request parsing
• Handling of HTTP methods (GET, POST, etc.)
• Request routing
  • Support for wildcards
  • Support for query params
• Header and status code handling
• HTTP response generation
• Support for persistent connections (Keep-Alive)

I had been doing backend development on my own for a while, but this project taught me a lot of the basics and core principles I overlooked when I created my first API.

Not only did it teach me a lot about these fundamentals, it also expanded my knowledge of some important components from the net/http package that are used regularly when building APIs.

There is still a lot I missed and did not implement, but at least now I have a better overview of the stuff I don’t know, instead of just being oblivious.