🚀 NLAP - FalconAS

Lightning-Fast Python / Java Application Server with NLAP (Next Level Application Protocol)

Note

We would like to apologize that the project's original goal has not been fully reached in the intended form.

At the same time, version 0.2 already includes a rock-solid HTTP/1.1 parser that is highly suitable for Arduino microcontroller usage and other resource-constrained environments.

Please also note that HTTP/1.2 will not be implemented, and there are currently no plans to further implement HTTP/1.1 beyond the existing stable parser/generator foundation in this library.

The design of /lib/http/ should instead be understood as a template and architectural foundation for the XML (Xerces)-based NLAP protocol parser.

📌 Overview

NLAP (Next Level Application Protocol) is a revolutionary XML-based protocol designed to replace HTTP in place of modern web-application requirements.

NLAP solves these problems with a clean, XML-based transport encapsulation that natively supports:

✅ Solid parallel response transmission in a single socket
✅ Eliminates head-of-line blocking: time-consuming responses do not block follow-ups
✅ Structured data with XML schemas
✅ Multiple protocol subtypes (NLAFP for files, NLAMP for application server requests)
✅ Simple, extensible architecture

FalconAS Server Features:

✅ Kernel Mutex-Less: Built with on-chip atomic user space locks
✅ Lightning-Fast Performance: Epoll-based / multi-socket optimized architecture
✅ Sendfile Static File Delivery: In-kernel sendfile() decrease scheduling latency
✅ Rock-Solid App-Server Security: Runs with tight backend process-separation model (non-threaded)
✅ SPA Realtime Demands: Built for modern browser applications (SPAs) real-time demands
✅ Zero Bloat: Eliminates unnecessary complexity while maintaining compatibility
✅ Python-Powered: FalconAS application server with embedded Python scripting
✅ Java-Powered: FalconAS application server with embedded Java scripting

🐎 Quick Start

Get FalconAS (using HTTP/1.1 or NLAP) running in minutes:

# clone repository
git clone https://github.com/WEBcodeX1/http-1.2.git
cd http-1.2

# install dependencies (Ubuntu 22.04/Debian 12)
apt-get install git cmake python3-pip libboost-all-dev python3-dev nlohmann-json3-dev

# build and install
cmake .
make
sudo make install

# start using systemd (automatically configured during install)
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable falcon-as
sudo systemctl start falcon-as

# OR start manually
. ./scripts/ulimit.sh
. ./scripts/set-transparent-hugepages.sh
/usr/local/bin/falcon-as

The server will be available with test applications at:

http://testapp1.local/ (HTTP/1.1 compatibility mode)
http://testapp2.local/ (HTTP/1.1 compatibility mode)

For detailed installation instructions, see BUILD.md.

🌟 Features

Core Advantages

🚀 Lightning-Fast: Epoll-based architecture for maximum performance
🔒 Secure by Design: Interpreters run non-threaded / unix process isolated
⚡ Zero Bloat: Clean XML-based protocol without HTTP's legacy complexity
🎯 SPA-Optimized: Perfect for modern Single Page Applications real-time demands
🐍 Python-Powered: Embedded Python interpreter / scripting integration
☕ Java-Powered: Embedded Java JNI / scripting integration

NLAP Protocol Innovations

XML-Based Transport: Clean, structured request/response format
Native UUID System: Built-in request/response matching
Multiple Subtypes: NLAFP for file transfer, NLAMP for application metadata
Extensible Architecture: XML schemas enable easy protocol evolution
Partial File Transfer: Efficient handling of large files with chunked transfer
Request/Response Signing: Built-in cryptographic signing support

Technical Features

Static Content Server: High-performance file serving with sendfile()
Application Server: Python scripting with shared memory architecture
Memory Management: Huge pages support and optimized memory layout
Process Architecture: Separate processes to avoid Python GIL limitations
JSON Configuration: Clean, maintainable configuration system
JSON Powered By: nlohmann/json C++ JSON library

📣 Why NLAP Instead of HTTP/1.2?

The Problem with HTTP/1.2

HTTP/1.2 is not being pursued - The original plan to extend HTTP/1.1 with UUID headers faces insurmountable challenges:

Ancient Text-Based Protocol Design: HTTP's line-based parsing is incompatible with efficient UUID integration
Client Library Overhead: Client processing must be re-implemented for a dead protocol, this means unnecessary effort, better implement intop modern NLAP design

The Problem with HTTP/2 & HTTP/3

HTTP/2 Complexity Crisis:

Excessive complexity destroys HTTP/1.1's elegant simplicity
Everything packed into one "black box" without logical separation
Libraries are confusing and difficult to understand
TLS/SSL handling unnecessarily embedded in protocol

HTTP/3 UDP Issues:

Solves core issues but moves unneccessary (already worldwide approved and adopted) complexity from TCP into UDP (application) layer

Our Solution: NLAP (Next Level Application Protocol)

NLAP replaces HTTP's legacy concepts with a clean, modern XML-based and application-centric (not document-centric) protocol.

🎯 Key Innovation: XML transport encapsulation, structured data, reliable concurrent-response transmission and extensibility that HTTP's ancient text format cannot match.

NLAP Protocol Specifications:

XML-Based: Structured, parseable, extensible format
Built-in UUID: Native request/response correlation
Multiple Subtypes: NLAFP for file protocol, NLAMP for metadata protocol
First Specs Available: See /specs/xml/ for NLAFP and NLAMP documentation

🛠️ Build & Installation

Prerequisites

Operating System Support:

Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish)
Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat)
Debian 12

Required Dependencies:

# core build tools
apt-get install git cmake

# c++ boost libraries
apt-get install libboost-all-dev

# python development headers
apt-get install python3-dev

# c++ json library
apt-get install nlohmann-json3-dev

Build Options

Standard Build:

cmake .
make
make install

Debug Build:

cmake -DDEBUG_BUILD=1 .
make
make install

Java Backend Build:

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-24.0.2-oracle-x64/
cmake -DJAVA_BACKEND=1 .
make
make install

For complete build instructions, see BUILD.md.

🧪 Testing

Comprehensive testing infrastructure ensures reliability:

Unit Tests: Core component validation (/test/unit/)
Integration Tests: End-to-end functionality (/test/integration/)
Performance Tests: Benchmarking and optimization (/test/performance/)
Evaluation Tests: Protocol compliance (/test/eval/)

See test documentation for detailed testing procedures.

⚙️ Technical Architecture

Process Model

+----------------+---------------+---------------+----------------+
| Server Process | AS Process 1  | AS Process x  | Result Process |
|                | Python Interp.| Python Interp.|                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Shared Memory                                                   |
|  - StaticFS Requests                                            |
|  - AS Metadata                                                  |
|  - AS Requests                                                  |
|  - AS Results                                                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Design Principles:

Process-Based: Separate processes avoid Python GIL limitations
Shared Memory: High-performance IPC with atomic locks (kernel mutex-less)
Huge Pages: Memory optimization for better performance

Performance Philosophy: Epoll vs Coroutines

⚠️ Coroutine Warning: While trending, coroutines can be counterproductive for scalability if implemented incorrectly.

The Problem with incorrectly implemented Coroutines:

In case a single connection awaits a syscall read() result
Its similar to one poll() for a single connection file descriptor
10,000 connections = 10,000 syscalls (context switches)
Massive overhead for checking received data (unscalable)

Our Epoll Advantage:

Single syscall informs about multiple FDs with pending data
Used by nginx and other high-performance servers

📃 Documentation

Official Documentation

Build Instructions: BUILD.md
Testing Guide: test/README.md
Technical Specifications: specs/md/README.md
Feature Comparison: FEATURE-MATRIX.md
Sphinx Rendered: Detailed Sphinx
Doxygen Rendered: Doxygen - UML relations

Online Resources

CI Documentation: /doc/README.md
RFP/RFC Specs: http://docs.webcodex.de/wacp/rfp/
Detailed Analysis: Der IT Prüfer

Protocol Specifications

NLAP XML Specs: See /specs/xml/ for detailed protocol documentation
- NLAFP (Next Level Application File Protocol)
- NLAMP (Next Level Application Metadata Protocol)
Internal Libraries: lib/README.md

🌐 Community & Support

Get Help & Discuss

Issues: GitHub Issues - Bug reports and feature requests
Email: http1-2@webcodex.de - Questions and improvement ideas
Security: SECURITY.md - Security vulnerability reporting

Stay Updated

Documentation: Official Docs
RFC Updates: Der IT Prüfer - Detailed protocol analysis

👋 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether you're:

🐛 Reporting bugs
💡 Suggesting features
📝 Improving documentation
🔧 Submitting code

Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Code Quality Standards:

Clean, readable, maintainable code
Comprehensive testing
Security-conscious development
Commit signing with GPG/SSH keys

⏰ Future Milestones

Short-term Goals

HTTP/1.1 Compatibility: Minimal SPA related features
x0 Framework Integration: Seamless SPA framework compatibility
NLAP Protocol Implementation: Complete NLAFP and NLAMP implementation
NLAP Client Library: Reference implementation for clients
Performance Benchmarks: Comprehensive HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and NLAP comparisons

Long-term Vision

Protocol Standardization: Submit NLAP as official RFC
Enterprise Features: Advanced monitoring, analytics, management
Proxy Server Component: Complete the load balancing/reverse proxy module
NLAP Browser Support: Native NLAP support in modern browsers

See GitHub Milestones for detailed roadmap.

📝 License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 - See LICENSE for details.

🚀 Ready to experience the future of web protocols?
_{Made with ❤️ by Claus Prüfer / clickIT / WEBcodeX}

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 697 Commits
.github		.github
config		config
doc		doc
lib		lib
ports		ports
scripts		scripts
specs		specs
src		src
test		test
www		www
.gitignore		.gitignore
BUILD.md		BUILD.md
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CMakeLists.txt		CMakeLists.txt
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
FEATURE-MATRIX.md		FEATURE-MATRIX.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md		PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
README.md		README.md
REFACTORING.md		REFACTORING.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md

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🚀 NLAP - FalconAS

📌 Overview

📑 Table of Contents

🐎 Quick Start

🌟 Features

Core Advantages

NLAP Protocol Innovations

Technical Features

📣 Why NLAP Instead of HTTP/1.2?

The Problem with HTTP/1.2

The Problem with HTTP/2 & HTTP/3

Our Solution: NLAP (Next Level Application Protocol)

🛠️ Build & Installation

Prerequisites

Build Options

🧪 Testing

⚙️ Technical Architecture

Process Model

Performance Philosophy: Epoll vs Coroutines

📃 Documentation

Official Documentation

Online Resources

Protocol Specifications

🌐 Community & Support

Get Help & Discuss

Stay Updated

👋 Contributing

⏰ Future Milestones

Short-term Goals

Long-term Vision

📝 License

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