Re: [boost] Boost.HTTP ?

From: Phil Endecott (spam_from_boost_dev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-12-10 17:12:52

Michael Dickey wrote:
> On Dec 10, 2007, at 6:39 AM, Phil Endecott wrote:
>> Far from merging your library into something else, I encourage you to
>> see how much you can break it up into smaller chunks and to make it
>> compatible with, yet not dependent on, other libraries.
>
> It's definitely moving in that direction.  For example, you can use  
> the client-side part of the library without touching any server-side  
> stuff, and you can even parse HTTP messages without any networking  
> code.  I agree with the approach of breaking pieces out and pushing  
> them into a lower-level space like cpp-netlib  over time.
>
> I guess a big question is, does _server-side_ functionality belong in  
> Boost?  I think for most cases, you're going to use an external  
> packaged server to solve a problem.

I might have agreed with you a few years ago but recently I've come to 
the conclusion that it's better to just implement an HTTP server.  In 
the past I have written CGI programs, which have the problem of 
starting one process per request, and Apache modules, where I have used 
Boost.Interprocess to store inter-request data.  Just writing an HTTP 
server is simpler and better, and you can get Apache features 
(compression, encryption, authentication, etc. etc.) by using its 
mod_proxy to forward requests to your separate server.

Phil.