EmintWeb: Creation of embedded web applications in C++ for specific systems

Abstract

Most contemporary web applications are primarily coded in interpreted languages (JavaScript, PHP, Python...) and are initiated by the web server. This requires solving the persistence issue: HTTP/HTTPS is a stateless protocol but user identity and computational state across consecutive requests must be preserved, typically using cookies and/or backend database servers.

This work develops embedded web applications: single compiled executable programs that encapsulate a web server. These applications are coded in a compiled language (in our case, C++). They initiate a separate thread for each session to establish optionally encrypted communication with the client and the HTML5 code for each page is dynamically generated at runtime.

This approach offers several advantages: it enhances security on both the server and client sides. On the server side there is only one file on disk (the executable) that can be altered. On the client side cookies are not needed and client-side code execution can be eliminated. Also, the use of compiled code enhances speed and faster application performance compared to interpreted languages.

This methodology is realized through a framework named EmintWeb (Embedded Interactive Web Development) which comprises a C++ code generator to create the HTML5 pages at runtime and link them with the business logic code of the application. Subsequently, it generates the executable that serves the application. An example of the same application developed using EmintWeb and PHP is provided to evaluate the speed and robustness of both implementations. This approach is not a replacement for current web frameworks but a software system to build web applications using C++ for systems that require the specific characteristics mentioned before.