Recommended C++ HTTP framework (features and advantages)

1. Crow

• Features: High-performance asynchronous framework, supporting Linux, macOS and Windows
• Advantages：
  • Lightweight: The entire framework has only one header file, which is easy to integrate into the project
  • Simple and easy to use: The API design is simple and intuitive, and the learning curve is smooth
  • high performance: Based on implementation, with good performance
  • RESTful support: Naturally support RESTful style API design

Example：

#include ""
int main()
{
    crow::SimpleApp app;
    // Define the route    CROW_ROUTE(app, "/")([](){
        return "Hello, world!";
    });
    CROW_ROUTE(app, "/json")
    ([](){
        crow::json::wvalue x;
        x["message"] = "Hello, World!";
        return x;
    });
    //Route with parameters    CROW_ROUTE(app, "/hello/<string>")
    ([](std::string name){
        return "Hello, " + name;
    });
    (18080).multithreaded().run();
}

2. Drogon

Features: High-performance asynchronous framework, supporting HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2

Advantages：

• High-performance design based on event loop
• Built-in ORM support
• Support WebSocket

Example：

cpp

#include <drogon/>
int main() {
    drogon::app()
        .registerHandler("/", [](const HttpRequestPtr &req,
                               std::function<void(const HttpResponsePtr &)> &&callback) {
            auto resp = HttpResponse::newHttpResponse();
            resp->setBody("Hello World!");
            callback(resp);
        })
        .run();
}

3. Pistache

Features: RESTful style framework, divided into two parts: core and REST

Advantages：

• Clear REST routing design
• Good documentation support
• Modern C++ style

Example：

cpp

#include <pistache/>
using namespace Pistache;
class HelloHandler : public Http::Handler {
public:
    HTTP_PROTOTYPE(HelloHandler)
    void onRequest(const Http::Request&, Http::ResponseWriter writer) override {
        (Http::Code::Ok, "Hello World!");
    }
};
int main() {
    Http::listenAndServe<HelloHandler>("*:9080");
}

4. cpp-httplib

Features: Single-file header file library, extremely lightweight

Advantages：

• Zero dependency
• Easy to use
• Support HTTPS (requires OpenSSL)

Example：

cpp

#include <>
int main() {
    httplib::Server svr;
    ("/", [](const httplib::Request &, httplib::Response &res) {
        res.set_content("Hello World!", "text/plain");
    });
    ("0.0.0.0", 8080);
}

5. Beast ()

Features: Boost official network library, underlying but powerful

Advantages：

• Built on it
• Support HTTP/WebSocket
• Suitable for scenarios that require fine control

Example：

cpp

#include <boost/>
namespace beast = boost::beast;
namespace http = beast::http;
void handle_request(http::request<http::string_body>&& req) {
    // Request processing logic}

6. Cutelyst

Features: Qt style web framework

Advantages：

• A signal slot mechanism similar to Qt
• Suitable for Qt developers

Select a suggestion

Select according to project requirements:

• Rapid development: Crow or cpp-httplib
• High-performance API: Drogon or Pistache
• Underlying control：Beast
• Qt environment：Cutelyst

All frameworks have active GitHub repository and community support, and it is recommended to evaluate options based on specific project needs.

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