Open-source alternatives to Netpoll

This library provides a framework for building event-driven, non-blocking network applications in PHP. It enables the development of asynchronous TCP and TLS servers and clients that manage multiple concurrent connections without stalling the main execution thread. By utilizing an event-loop architecture, the library handles network operations and data exchange through asynchronous streams, ensuring that the application remains responsive during high-throughput tasks. The project distinguishes itself through its integration with operating system primitives, such as raw file descriptors and Un

Kore is an event-driven web and WebSocket server framework designed for building high-performance web services and APIs in C or Python. It functions as a secure, concurrent application framework that utilizes non-blocking I/O and isolated worker processes to handle high-concurrency traffic. The project is distinguished by a security-first architecture that features OS-level process sandboxing, privilege separation, and the isolation of private encryption keys into dedicated processes. It enables zero-downtime deployments through dynamic module hot-reloading and provides automated TLS certific

libhv is a high-performance C/C++ network library and event-driven I/O framework used to build TCP, UDP, SSL, HTTP, WebSocket, and MQTT clients and servers. It provides a non-blocking event loop for managing network sockets, timers, and system signals across multiple threads. The project is distinguished by its integrated support for specialized network roles, including a full HTTP web server with RESTful routing and middleware, an MQTT messaging client for IoT communication, and the ability to implement SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies. It also features a reliable UDP implementation to ensure ordered

TCP-IP-NetworkNote is a comprehensive technical reference and guide for implementing network communication using TCP and UDP sockets in C and C++. It provides a detailed manual for using the POSIX socket API and covers the implementation of network protocols, synchronous and asynchronous I/O patterns, and concurrent programming models. The project is distinguished by its focus on cross-platform networking, offering a detailed comparison of socket implementation details and adaptation utilities between Linux and Windows Winsock environments. It specifically addresses the differences in header

ReactPHP is an asynchronous runtime and event-driven I/O framework for PHP. It provides an environment for executing concurrent tasks through a central event loop implementation and reactor pattern, allowing applications to handle multiple operations without pausing the main execution thread. The project includes a specialized asynchronous socket library for TCP, UDP, and TLS communication, alongside a non-blocking HTTP server and client for streaming web requests and responses. Its capability surface covers asynchronous control flow via promises and fibers, non-blocking network connectivity

shadowsocks-libev is an event-driven network daemon that provides an encrypted SOCKS5 proxy. It functions as a lightweight proxy server using a non-blocking event loop to route TCP and UDP traffic through encrypted tunnels to bypass network restrictions. The project implements a transparent proxy gateway capable of intercepting outbound packets at the network layer, allowing system traffic to be redirected through the encrypted tunnel without per-application configuration. It also includes a daemon process manager to control multiple proxy server instances as child processes via local communi

This project is a detailed analysis and study of the Nginx source code, focusing on high-performance server architecture and function call flows. It serves as a technical examination of the internal C implementation used to build high-concurrency networking systems. The project deconstructs the internal mechanisms of the web server, including the multi-process master-worker model, event-driven asynchronous I/O, and non-blocking socket communication. It analyzes the phase-based request processing lifecycle, from URI matching and header parsing to final content generation. The study covers a b

Muduo is a C++11 event-driven network library and framework designed for building high-concurrency Linux servers. It provides a toolkit for implementing scalable network services and socket communication using non-blocking I/O and asynchronous event processing. The framework implements a multi-threaded TCP server architecture that distributes connection handling across multiple CPU threads to maximize server throughput. This is achieved through a one-loop-per-thread model and a reactor pattern implementation, which dispatch network events from a central demultiplexer to registered handler fun

Gevent is a Python coroutine concurrency library and asynchronous task manager designed for high-concurrency I/O tasks. It provides a cooperative networking framework for building asynchronous TCP, UDP, and HTTP servers, as well as a WSGI web server implementation for hosting web applications. The project is distinguished by its standard library monkey-patching tool, which replaces blocking synchronous functions with cooperative versions to enable asynchronous behavior in third-party code. This allows for a cooperative multitasking workflow where the system yields execution during I/O waits t

pyzmq provides Python language bindings for ZeroMQ, serving as an asynchronous messaging library for distributed data transport and inter-process communication. It enables the implementation of non-blocking communication patterns between distributed components and local processes. The toolkit focuses on high-performance data exchange through features such as zero-copy buffer access, which reads incoming messages directly into pre-allocated memory to avoid data duplication. It also supports the management of multipart messages and the use of state-shadowing object wrappers to track socket life

This project serves as a comprehensive tutorial and technical resource for developing network applications in the C programming language. It focuses on the practical application of the Berkeley socket interface, guiding users through the implementation of low-level network protocols and the management of data transmission across both connection-oriented and connectionless streams. The material distinguishes itself by covering the full lifecycle of network communication, from initializing system-level protocol stacks and resolving domain names to managing complex connection behaviors. It provi

Janet is a Lisp-based dynamic programming language featuring a register-based bytecode virtual machine and an embeddable scripting engine. It functions as a fiber-based concurrency runtime and includes a parsing engine based on Parsing Expression Grammars. The project is distinguished by its ability to be integrated into C or C++ applications via a minimal header interface. It utilizes a Lisp-style macro system for compile-time code transformation and employs prototype-based table inheritance for object-oriented behavior. The runtime covers a broad set of capabilities, including asynchronous

libwebsockets is an event-driven networking framework written in C. It provides a suite of tools for implementing HTTP servers and clients, WebSocket bidirectional communication, MQTT client messaging, and TLS-enabled socket encryption. The project distinguishes itself through a non-blocking event-loop architecture capable of scaling to high connection volumes by distributing network sessions across multiple service threads. It uses a protocol-based callback system and a pluggable event loop integration that allows the networking core to synchronize with external system event libraries. The

Workerman is an event-driven asynchronous socket framework for PHP. It provides the core components necessary to build high-concurrency network servers, including an asynchronous TCP framework, a coroutine library for task management, and dedicated implementations for HTTP and WebSocket servers. The project enables the development of specialized network services using custom frame-based communication protocols. It supports both inbound concurrent server implementation and asynchronous outbound connectivity to remote services. The framework covers a broad range of network programming capabili

Handy is a C++11 network server framework and event-driven networking engine designed for building high-performance concurrent TCP and UDP servers. It functions as an asynchronous I/O library and an HTTP server implementation that separates asynchronous network I/O from synchronous business logic to simplify server development. The framework distinguishes itself by utilizing platform-specific event notifications to manage millions of simultaneous network connections and providing an SSL/TLS network wrapper for encrypted asynchronous data transmission. It implements a half-sync/half-async proc

EasySwoole is a high-performance asynchronous PHP framework designed for building event-driven networks and persistent memory applications. It functions as a toolkit for developing distributed microservices and asynchronous servers capable of handling concurrent HTTP, TCP, UDP, and WebSocket connections. The framework distinguishes itself through a persistent memory process execution mode that eliminates the overhead of repetitive file loading and invocation during request handling. It provides built-in support for distributed systems via remote procedure call implementations and service disc

ESPAsyncWebServer is an asynchronous web server designed for ESP32 and ESP8266 microcontrollers. It enables these devices to host websites and APIs to provide embedded device interfaces for hardware control and data display. The server utilizes non-blocking HTTP handling to process multiple concurrent network connections. This allows the device to manage web requests without pausing other background tasks or sensor readings. The implementation relies on asynchronous socket operations, event-loop request handling, and buffer-based stream parsing. It integrates directly with the network layer

EventMachine is a reactor-pattern network framework for Ruby that provides an asynchronous I/O library for performing non-blocking network and file operations. It functions as a network server framework used to build scalable TCP and UDP servers and clients that process multiple simultaneous requests. The framework implements a concurrency model that dispatches network events to registered handlers using a single-threaded event loop. This approach allows for the management of high-concurrency network connections without the overhead of multi-threaded programming. The library covers the devel

Message-io is an event-driven networking library written in Rust that provides a unified message-based API for building applications across multiple transport protocols. It allows developers to handle communication over TCP streams, UDP datagrams, and WebSocket connections through a single interface, while managing underlying network connections, message transport, and low-level socket asynchrony. The library utilizes a single-threaded event loop architecture to process incoming connections, disconnections, network messages, and internal signals on a dedicated thread, eliminating traditional

Smol is a lightweight Rust asynchronous runtime and task executor. It provides a suite of foundational tools for scheduling and executing asynchronous futures, managing background workloads, and handling non-blocking network and file operations. The project includes a compatibility layer for adapting asynchronous types and execution contexts, enabling futures to run across different runtime ecosystems. It also features a mechanism to offload synchronous I/O and CPU-intensive operations to dedicated worker thread pools to prevent runtime stalls. Its capabilities cover non-blocking network I/O

This project is a technical study and analysis guide focused on the internal architecture of Node.js. It provides an in-depth examination of the runtime, focusing on how the engine manages memory handles, executes asynchronous operations, and implements core module logic. The guide specifically analyzes the integration of native C++ classes and functions into JavaScript and documents the behavior of the libuv event loop. It includes detailed references for optimizing performance by identifying V8 compiler bailouts and profiling execution to improve resource efficiency. The material covers a

CppGuide is a curated collection of educational resources and practical guides focused on C++ server development, Linux kernel internals, concurrent programming, network protocols, and security exploitation. It provides structured learning paths for backend developers, covering everything from interview preparation to building high-performance network servers and understanding operating system fundamentals. The guide distinguishes itself by offering in-depth, hands-on tutorials that walk through real-world implementations, including building a Redis-like server from scratch, designing custom

This project is a C++ TCP server framework and educational socket programming guide. It provides a high-performance network library focused on event-driven architecture, implementing a reactor pattern to handle thousands of simultaneous client connections. The framework is distinguished by its multi-threaded event loop, which utilizes a main-sub reactor coordination model to distribute network events across a worker thread pool. It includes an abstraction layer for non-blocking socket I/O and event multiplexing via the epoll system call, decoupling network transport from application business

SocketRocket is an Objective-C WebSocket client library designed to establish bidirectional real-time communication channels between an application and a server. It provides a networking layer for real-time data streaming, utilizing a heartbeat monitor to maintain the stability of active network streams. The library is built to operate across restricted networks by routing traffic through HTTP proxies. It secures data transmission using TLS encryption and SSL certificate pinning to prevent unauthorized interception of network traffic. Its underlying capabilities include low-level TCP socket

Trio is an asynchronous I/O runtime and concurrency library for Python. It provides a system for executing non-blocking network and disk operations through a centralized event loop and task scheduler. The library is built on a structured concurrency model, which ensures that asynchronous tasks are bound to a specific lifetime and cannot outlive the scope that started them. It utilizes a nursery-based task manager to track task lifecycles in a parent-child tree, preventing orphaned concurrent operations by requiring child tasks to be joined before their parent scope exits. The framework cover

ZLMediaKit is a high-concurrency streaming engine designed to function as a protocol gateway and media server. It provides a native development kit for embedding streaming and transcoding capabilities directly into custom applications, supporting the ingestion, distribution, and recording of live video feeds across various network protocols. The platform distinguishes itself through a high-performance architecture that bridges legacy surveillance protocols with modern web-compatible streaming standards. It utilizes a thread-per-core execution model and zero-copy buffer management to maintain

HP-Socket is a networking library for building scalable TCP, UDP, and HTTP servers and clients with event-driven I/O and SSL encryption. It provides a high-performance TCP server framework, an HTTP request handler that parses incoming requests and generates responses, and a UDP communication library for low-latency data transfer, all with optional SSL encryption for secure communication. The library is built on a completion-port-based I/O architecture that uses Windows I/O Completion Ports for scalable asynchronous socket operations. It features a connection-pooled agent architecture for mana