http-server: A Minimal HTTP/1.1 Server in Go

http-server is a custom-built HTTP/1.1 server written in Go, implemented from the ground up using raw TCP sockets. Inspired by Go’s standard net/http package, this project explores the internals of networking, HTTP protocol parsing, and secure server architecture.

Originally developed as part of a university networking course (IAUT, September 2024), it has since evolved into a deeper systems project aimed at understanding and replicating core web server behaviors in a clean, modular, and idiomatic Go structure.

Features

• Raw TCP server with connection management
• Full HTTP/1.1 request parsing (methods, headers, body)
• Custom response generation with ResponseWriter
• Handler interface and minimal router (like http.ServeMux)
• Concurrent request handling via goroutines

Package Structure

http-server/
├── net/ # Low-level TCP server: listening, connections
├── http/ # HTTP protocol: request, response, handlers
├── internal/ # Internal utilities: CLI utilities
└── examples/ # Example servers using the http-server API

Learning Objectives

This project is intended to:

• Understand how web servers work beneath abstractions
• Explore the full HTTP/1.1 specification (RFC 7230+)
• Study security risks like header injection, DoS, and slowloris
• Mimic the structure and ergonomics of Go's standard library
• Build reusable network layers from scratch

Author

Ata — github.com/atareversei

Originally developed at Islamic Azad University of Tabriz (IAUT) for the Computer Networks course, Fall 2024.