Web Servers and APIs using C++

Course details

C++ has re-emerged as a go-to language for developing high-performance websites and web applications. C++ compiles to machine code, making it faster to start up and execute. For users, this means less time waiting for a site to render. This course teaches developers how to build a website powered by a MongoDB database and deploy it with a Heroku cloud server, all with C++. Instructor Troy Miles—a senior software developer—shows how to build and deliver HTML webpages; upload, download, and parse JSON data; make RESTful API calls; and even do real-time communication using WebSockets. Along the way, he shows how to resolve one of the main challenges of C++ web development—a complex toolchain that must be synced in development and production—using Docker containers.
Learning objectives
Working with Crow, the C++ micro web framework
Deploying containers to Heroku
Building websites and webpages
Accessing data from a database
Accessing data via RESTful APIs
Creating API endpoints
Running WebSockets on Heroku

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Why use C++ to make a website
02 - What you should know

1. Installing Our Tools

03 - Installing Docker
04 - Installing Atom
05 - Creating a Dockerfile
06 - Running a Dockerfile
07 - Adding a volume
08 - Building Crow
09 - Serving the example
10 - Challenge - Modify the example page
11 - Solution - Modify the example page

2. Deploying to Heroku

12 - Creating a Heroku account
13 - Installing the Heroku CLI
14 - Deploying our container to Heroku
15 - Saving our container to Docker Hub

3. Building Websites

16 - Creating HTML pages
17 - Serving HTML pages
18 - Serving static content
19 - Challenge - Create a new webpage
20 - Solution - Create a new webpage

4. Data Access

21 - Creating an mLab account
22 - Uploading JSON data
23 - Adding the MongoDB C++ drivers
24 - Querying Mongo data
25 - Adding dynamic data to a page
26 - Challenge - Create a webpage with data
27 - Solution - Create a webpage with data

5. RESTful APIs

28 - Creating an endpoint
29 - Parsing the path
30 - Reading the query string
31 - Converting to JSON data
32 - Challenge - Create an endpoint
33 - Solution - Create an endpoint

6. WebSockets and Crow

34 - Reviewing the JavaScript client code
35 - Creating the C++ server code
36 - Running WebSocket on Heroku

Conclusion

37 - Next steps