Introduction

Beast is a C++ header-only library serving as a foundation for writing interoperable networking libraries by providing [*low-level HTTP/1, WebSocket, and networking protocol] vocabulary types and algorithms using the consistent asynchronous model of __Asio__.

This library is designed for:

* [*Symmetry:] Algorithms are role-agnostic; build clients, servers, or both.

* [*Ease of Use:] __Asio__ users will immediately understand Beast.

* [*Flexibility:] Users make the important decisions such as buffer or

* [*Performance:] Build applications handling thousands of connections or more.

* [*Basis for Further Abstraction.] Components are well-suited for building upon.

This library is not a client or server, but it can be used to build those things. Many examples are provided, including clients and servers, which may be used as a starting point for writing your own program.

Motivation

Beast empowers users to create their own libraries, clients, and servers using HTTP/1 and WebSocket. Code will be easier and faster to implement, understand, and maintain, because Beast takes care of the low-level protocol details. The HTTP and WebSocket protocols drive most of the World Wide Web. Every web browser implements these protocols to load webpages and to enable client side programs (often written in JavaScript) to communicate interactively. C++ benefits greatly from having a standardized implementation of these protocols.

Requirements

This library is for programmers familiar with __Asio__. Users who

Beast requires:

* [*C++11:] Robust support for most language features.
* [*Boost:] Beast only works with Boost, not stand-alone Asio
* [*OpenSSL:] Version 1.0.2 or higher. Required to build the tests, examples, and to use TLS/Secure sockets.

Tested with these compilers: msvc-14+, gcc 5.0+, clang 3.6+.

Sources are [*header-only]. Adding additional libraries to the linking step for your programs to use Beast is normally not necessary, except for these cases:

* When using coroutines created by calling
[@boost:/doc/html/boost_asio/reference/spawn.html `boost::asio::spawn`],
you will need to add the
[@boost:/libs/coroutine/index.html Boost.Coroutine]
library to your program.

* When using
[@boost:/doc/html/boost_asio/reference/ssl__stream.html `boost::asio::ssl::stream`],
you will need to add the
[@https://www.openssl.org/ OpenSSL]
library to your program.

Please visit the [@boost:/more/getting_started.html Boost documentation] for instructions on how to build and link with Boost libraries for your particular environment system.