API Development in C++: Building High-Performance Web Services

The book "API Development in C++" is a comprehensive practical guide for developers who want to master creating modern, fast, and reliable web interfaces in C++. Unlike typical C++ textbooks, this book focuses exclusively on server-side development and API design, offering ready-made solutions and best practices for industrial development.

What This Book Is About

The author systematically guides the reader from the basics of network programming to deploying production-ready APIs. You will learn:

• HTTP and Network Protocol Basics — how requests, responses, headers, and status codes work in the context of C++
• Designing RESTful APIs — principles of endpoint naming, versioning, pagination, and error handling
• Working with Popular Frameworks — a detailed breakdown of the Crow, Drogon, and cpp-httplib libraries with code examples
• Data Serialization — parsing and generating JSON/XML using nlohmann/json and pugixml
• gRPC and Protobuf — creating high-performance microservices with a binary protocol
• Authentication and Security — JWT, OAuth2, HTTPS, protection against CSRF and SQL injection
• Testing and Debugging — unit tests, load testing with cpp-httplib and Postman
• Monitoring and Logging — integration with Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, and the ELK stack

Who This Book Is For

This book will be useful for:

• C++ developers who want to transition from system programming to web development
• Back-end engineers looking for an alternative to Python/Java for high-load systems
• Software architects designing microservice systems in C++
• Students and beginners familiar with C++ basics who want to create real web services

What You Will Gain

After reading the book, you will be able to:

• Independently design and implement a REST API of any complexity
• Choose the right framework and architecture for your project
• Optimize API performance to handle thousands of requests per second
• Ensure the security and scalability of your service
• Integrate the API with databases, message queues, and external services

Each chapter contains practical examples, ready-to-use code snippets, and exercises to reinforce the material. The book is written in a lively, clear language and is not overloaded with excessive theory — only what is truly needed for work.

Whether you are building an internal microservice for a company or a public API for thousands of users, this guide will become your go-to reference.