Member Avatar for makymakaru

hello..

i need to create a simple web proxy where it can pass data and requests between a web client and a web server. thing is i'm very new to this kind of programming but i really want to learn.

if i want to do this where do i start? i have absolutely no idea. can i use visual c++ in creating a web proxy? any insight, suggestions and directives that can help me with this will be highly appreciated thanks very much!!

  • 4 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 287 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by kvprajapati

Dani AI

Generated

Practical, hands-on plan for . Visual C++ is perfectly capable of creating a simple HTTP proxy. The links and pointers from , and are useful background; the work is easiest if broken into small, verifiable steps so each piece can be tested before adding complexity.

Steps to follow:

  1. Learn basic TCP I/O (Winsock for native Visual C++ or a higher-level library such as Boost.Asio). Verify with a tiny echo server and client first.
  2. Implement a minimal forwarder that accepts one client, reads the HTTP request headers until the blank line, parses the request line and Host header, connects to the target server, sends the raw request, and streams the response back. Keep it synchronous and single-threaded initially.
  3. Add proper HTTP handling: respect Content-Length, support Transfer-Encoding: chunked, handle 100-continue, and decide whether to support persistent connections or close after each request.
  4. Implement CONNECT as a tunnel for HTTPS (opaque byte forwarding). Full HTTPS interception requires generating/trusting certificates (a separate, advanced and security-sensitive task).
  5. Add concurrency and robustness: thread-per-connection for learning, then move to non-blocking IO or IOCP on Windows for scale. Add timeouts, connection limits, and logging.

Minimal proxy skeleton (pseudo-code):

listen = socket_bind_listen(port)
while (true) {
  client = accept(listen)
  spawn_thread(handleClient, client)
}

handleClient(client) {
  req = read_until_double_crlf(client)
  (host, port) = parseHost(req)
  server = connect(host, port)
  send(server, req)
  forward_bytes(server, client)
  close(server); close(client)
}

Troubleshooting notes: test with curl/telnet and a browser configured to use a proxy; use packet captures to diagnose hangs; common bugs are blocking reads that assume a full message, failing to handle chunked bodies, mismatched Content-Length after header edits, and missing socket timeouts. Start with plain HTTP, prove correctness, then add features (caching, auth, HTTPS inspection) one at a time.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for Member #248612

"Even a long way starts with the first step"

Maybe this is helpful for you:

[1]
[2]
[3] http://www.squid-cache.org/

Member Avatar for csurfer

Try the links in above post and ya try w3schools.com You have got lots of tutorials about everything related to web and you also can try out commands there only.It may be of some help :)

Member Avatar for kvprajapati

makymakaru,

>Can I use visual c++ in creating a web proxy?
--- Yes

>Where do i start? i have absolutely no idea. any insight, suggestions and directives that can help me.

Read MSDN online pages & Tutorials -
MFC Socket

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.