Server
A server is a computer system or software process that receives requests from clients or other systems and provides resources, data, or services in response.
Learn Go with Pocket-Sized Projects
An HTTP server is software that accepts HTTP requests and returns responses over the HTTP protocol.
- How it is used
- Uses an HTTP server to expose game endpoints or serve browser-facing HTML.
- How deep it goes
- Works through listening, handlers, routing, and response tests; leaves containerization and deployment outside scope.
- Examples
- Runs a minimal localhost greeting server, then develops game API endpoints and an HTML page backed by gRPC.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with Go net/http, then organize handlers and test their responses.
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Rust Servers, Services, and Apps
A web server is software that accepts network requests and returns responses, typically over HTTP.
- How it is used
- Serves static pages and JSON data, then hosts routed APIs and frontend form requests.
- How deep it goes
- Builds a limited GET server from TCP and HTTP components, then configures an Actix server; stops short of a production-ready implementation.
- Examples
- Tests HTML, CSS, JSON, and invalid paths with a browser or curl, and builds an Actix /health endpoint.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with Rust’s standard library or operate/configure it with Actix routes, handlers, and HttpServer.
The Well-Grounded Python Developer: How the pros use Python and Flask
Server software is software that provides network-accessible functionality and enables a computer to act as a server.
- How it is used
- Provides network-accessible functionality for a web application while centralizing its features and updates.
- How deep it goes
- Defines server software, traces browser request-response behavior, and runs a local Flask example; leaves HTTP protocol details beyond scope.
- Examples
- Uses a Flask Hello World route and a browser request to localhost to show a server receiving and answering requests.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it: run the Flask development server locally and recognize why it should not serve a public production application.
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ASP.NET Core in Action, 3e
A web server is software or a host system that receives HTTP requests and returns HTTP responses containing web resources.
- How it is used
- Frames the server as the entry point that receives browser requests and returns application-generated HTTP responses.
- How deep it goes
- Explains HTTP request and response parts, Kestrel hosting, HttpContext construction, and reverse-proxy placement without detailing implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses browser page requests, generated HTML, access-denied responses, Kestrel hosting, and IIS or NGINX reverse-proxy deployments.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate request flow by distinguishing client requests, server processing, application responses, and reverse-proxy forwarding.
Amazon Web Services in Action, Third Edition: An in-depth guide to AWS
A web server is software that receives and responds to requests for web resources or application content.
- How it is used
- Uses web servers to handle customer requests in web shops and expose an image-processing REST API.
- How deep it goes
- Walks through Apache setup and shows Express routes, without requiring an in-depth understanding of Express.
- Examples
- Demonstrates an Apache default website, a web shop, and an Express image-processing API.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it on EC2 by installing and starting Apache, allowing HTTP traffic, and checking the site in a browser.
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Go in Practice, Second Edition
A web server is software that listens for network requests and returns responses over web protocols such as HTTP.
- How it is used
- Serves browser and API requests directly from a Go application.
- How deep it goes
- Works through a runnable listener and handler, then identifies routing, middleware, startup, shutdown, and production planning without detailing their implementations here.
- Examples
- Uses a localhost greeting server and a media-upload API that stores files and queues transcoding jobs.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with Go's net/http, registering a path handler and starting a localhost listener.
Grokking Concurrency
A server application is a program that listens for client connections and provides services over those connections.
- How it is used
- Provides services to connecting clients and, in a word-count application, coordinates worker tasks.
- How deep it goes
- Works through binding, listening, accepting, and replying, then identifies the single-client bottleneck without detailing network internals.
- Examples
- Uses a Python pizza-ordering server tested with Netcat, a waiting second client, and a word-count server coordinating workers.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch as a basic Python socket server and diagnose why a second client waits.
Bootstrapping Microservices, Second Edition: With Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and Terraform
An HTTP server is software that listens for HTTP requests and returns HTTP responses.
- How it is used
- Builds a single microservice baseline before composing multiple services.
- How deep it goes
- Builds a runnable Express server with one route and local testing, while skimming broader Node.js and production concerns.
- Examples
- Uses Hello World, localhost:3000, and browser-based video playback through /video.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with Node.js and Express, run it from a terminal, and validate it in a browser.
Think Like a CTO
A server is a computing system or software service that provides resources or functionality to other systems over a network.
- How it is used
- Supports organizational services as part of on-premises infrastructure.
- How deep it goes
- Explains hosting, capacity and physical operating needs, but not server installation procedures.
- Examples
- Uses an online promotion to show internal server capacity reassigned to frontline servers.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate/understand server capacity decisions using procurement lead times, hosting options and physical requirements.
Go by Example
An HTTP server is software that accepts and processes Hypertext Transfer Protocol requests and returns responses.
- How it is used
- Builds runnable HTTP services and tests clients against controlled HTTP servers.
- How deep it goes
- Explains handler dispatch, response-writing order, concurrency, configuration, and testing, without detailing network internals.
- Examples
- Uses a health-check service, localhost:8080, curl output, and a test server counting concurrent client requests.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by implementing handlers, configuring an address, launching a server, and testing its responses.
Learn Rust in a Month of Lunches
A server is a program that listens for client requests and provides responses over a network.
- How it is used
- Builds a local web application and makes a word-guessing game accessible through browser requests.
- How deep it goes
- Explains routes, GET requests, localhost, ports, extractors, and serving, but stops short of a full Axum explanation.
- Examples
- Uses root, guessing-game, game-guess, and double-number routes with successful responses, parsing errors, and a 404 response.
- What you can do after
- Builds a small local server with Axum routes, asynchronous handlers, path extraction, and browser-visible responses.
Related concepts
- NGINXincludes · NGINX is open-source web-server and reverse-proxy software that serves HTTP content, forwards requests, and can load-balance network traffic.
- Spring Bootconfigured by · Spring Boot is an open-source framework in the Spring ecosystem for building stand-alone, production-ready applications with convention-based configuration and auto-configuration.
- Kafka brokerincludes · A Kafka broker is a server process in an Apache Kafka cluster that stores records and handles producer, consumer, and other client requests.
- clientused by · A client is a person, organization, device, or software component that receives or uses a product, service, resource, or functionality provided by another entity.
- browserused by · A web browser is software that retrieves, interprets, and renders web resources, executes supported web content, and enables interaction with web pages and applications.
- HTTPuses · HTTP is a standardized application-layer protocol that defines request-and-response messages for transferring resource representations between networked systems.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.