Re: [boost] C++ Networking Library Release 0.5

Subject: Re: [boost] C++ Networking Library Release 0.5
From: Michael Caisse (boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-02-01 18:56:13

Phil Endecott wrote:
> Hi Peter,
>
> Peter Petrov wrote:
>> Let me chime in, as I've recently developed an Asio-based HTTP server as
>> well.
>>
>> First, Spirit is unsuitable for the task - it consumes all the input 
>> in one
>> pass, and doesn't support the case when the HTTP request arrives in more
>> than one read. The real solution is a state-machine-based parser, 
>> just like
>> the one in the Asio HTTP example.
>
> I disagree in general.  My parser is primarily an HTTP request 
> _header_ parser, and the headers are normally relatively small.  For 
> most requests (i.e. GETs) the request body doesn't add much, and in 
> those cases it is likely that the whole request can be got in a single 
> read.  In fact browser implementations go to some lengths to make 
> their requests fit in single network packets (about 1500 bytes) for 
> performance reasons, and single network packets will generally be 
> accessible as single reads.
>
> I normally use this code in a thread-per-connection environment, but 
> if you wanted to use it in a single-threaded system you would need to 
> modify it to detect incomplete input in the (rare) case when the input 
> was split over multiple packets.
>
> In the case of HTTP POST and PUT requests, on the other hand, the body 
> (but not the header) can be large, and parsing it incrementally as it 
> arrives probably is necessary.  I noticed a BoostCon paper about a 
> MIME parser (Marshall?) - this would definitely benefit from working 
> incrementally in many applications.

While not wanting to be self-serving .... I will be discussing how to
use Spirit and Asio together at BoostCon in presentations on Spirit and Asio.
I have been developing a utility that works well for many of my applications
that require asynchronous messaging. I have also utilized it with embedded HTTP
servers.

While the source works well and is shipping with a few client projects, it is
rough in Boost terms and is going through refinements for a May introduction.

I tend to agree with Phil. My experience is that provided the correct model, Spirit
(both Qi and Karma) work perfectly fine in this domain.

Best Regards -
michael

-- 
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Michael Caisse
Object Modeling Designs
www.objectmodelingdesigns.com