DaNode is a simple and small web server written in D that allows running websites using any programming language as CGI scripts. It has fewer than 2000 lines of code, runs on Windows, Linux, and ARM, and allows serving multiple secure domains from a single server using SSL and SNI. While simple and useful for quick tasks, it does not fully implement web standards and its security has limitations, but it serves as a basis for further development and adding features from other frameworks like vibe.d.

1. DaNode - A home made web
server in D
Talk #dconf 2016 Berlin
Herr Dr. Danny Arends
Fachgebiet Züchtungsbiologie und molekulare Tierzüchtung
Lebenswissenschaftliche Fakultät
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

2. ∗ Simple & Small codebase
∗ No plugins, single executable
∗ Portable ? Windows / Linux / ARM
∗ Dump a script in a folder,
Generate HTML
∗ Any language as CGI
∗ Domain names?
∗ No java anymore 
∗ Run my own homepage (php)
What I was looking for

3. ∗ Install the brainfuck compiler
∗ Create a script
echo "++++++++++[>+++++++>++++++++++>+++>+<<<<-]>++.>+.+++++++..+++.>++.<<+++++++++++++++.>.+++.------.-
-------.>+.>." > www/dannyarends.nl/hello.brainfuck
∗ Update the supported mime-types
case ".brainfuck" : return CGI_FILE ~ "bfuck -n -C";
∗ Stop server, recompile and restart
As simple as

4. ∗ Internet Information Services (Microsoft)
∗ Familiar web server, easy install
∗ No access to server source code
∗ Windows only
∗ Apache
∗ Full blown web server
∗ Complex setup, huge source code
∗ Different plugins change behavior
∗ I did not want to add plugins for every feature
∗ Too massive for what I wanted
Alternatives

5. ∗ Vibe.d
∗ 0.7.4 - March 2012
∗ Looked very promising (async I/O, Templates)
∗ Features offered by vibe.d were limited
∗ Too high level for what I wanted
∗ Templated language for HTML
∗ No PHP support
∗ Changes were still quite common
∗ Hindsight: vibe.d would have been the better choice
Alternatives

6. ∗ Any programming language as CGI
∗ As simple as in the brainfuck example
∗ Service many (secure) domains with a single server
∗ SSL using Deimos and Server Name Indication (SNI)
∗ Per website configurations
∗ Request redirection (Canonical URLs)
∗ Directory browsing
∗ Streamed and/or buffered file downloads
∗ Minimal memory foot-print
∗ < 2000 lines of code
DaNode Features

7. ∗ Useful for quick and dirty tasks
∗ Running several domains for 4 years
∗ DaNode does not follow HTML specifications
∗ SSL is probably not very secure
∗ CGI is probably not very secure
∗ Perhaps replace core parts by vibe.d
∗ No unit-tests yet, but travis-ci
∗ Aiming for full code coverage
∗ Find people interested
Why this talk

8. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
dannyarends.nl
@DannyArends
github.com/DannyArends
Any and all feedback, help,
and/or pull requests are
appreciated
Any questions ?

9. Install the current DMD compiler:
https://dlang.org/download.html
git clone https://github.com/DannyArends/DaNode.git
cd DaNode
rdmd --build-only -O -gc -release -w danode/server.d
./danode/server –p 8080
Open firefox: http://localhost:8080/
Install DaNode