I built an HTTP/2 server in C++ to learn the protocol and language
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I wanted to learn more about the HTTP/2 protocol but also deep dive into modern C++ development. I'm currently using it to host my personal web site - https://www.roberthargreaves.com.I've also blogged a bit about the development process, hosting options and steps I took to harden the application against attack - https://blog.roberthargreaves.com/2026/01/03/building-hostin...It's by no means a complete implementation of HTTP/2, but I think I've achieved the main aims I was hoping to achieve with it!I would love some feedback though from more experienced folks if there's some egregious failings which I should address.
HN · launched Jan 4, 2026 · 11 upvotes (top 47%) · 0 views
Niche: network and communication protocol libraries · 70 launches, 5 in the last 7 days · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Dev tools
- Developer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 70 launches in network and communication protocol libraries →
Could you build this?
No Implementing a compliant, hardened HTTP/2 protocol server from scratch in modern C++ requires deep networking systems expertise, binary framing parsing, HPACK decompression, and stream multiplexing state machines.
What it would actually take: A developer must implement RFC 7540 and RFC 7541 (HPACK header compression) using modern asynchronous C++ (e.g., ASIO or epoll event loops). Core challenges include stateful stream flow control, priority trees, TLS ALPN negotiation via OpenSSL, and edge-case hardening against DDoS attacks (e.g., rapid reset and stream starvation).
Discussion
No comments on this launch.
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 210 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #103 of 211 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 67 days after the earliest competitor.
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