webwords code golf: minimal HTTP servers in multiple languages
################################################################

:author: Russell Ballestrini
:slug: webwords-code-golf-minimal-implementation
:date: 2025-10-10 16:00
:tags: Code, Python, Docker
:status: published

The full webwords implementations have proper error handling, logging, and structure. But what's the absolute minimum code needed to implement the core functionality?

**The companion** `webwords git repo <https://github.com/russellballestrini/webwords>`_ **lives here.**

the challenge
=============

Implement webwords functionality in the fewest Python characters possible:

1. Accept HTTP requests on port 31337
2. Parse ``keyword`` and ``target`` parameters  
3. Fetch target URI content
4. Return ``true`` if keyword found, ``false`` otherwise

python solution
===============

.. code-block:: python

 import http.server as h,urllib.request as u,urllib.parse as p
 class S(h.BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
  def do_GET(s):q=dict(p.parse_qsl(p.urlparse(s.path).query));s.send_response(200);s.end_headers();s.wfile.write(str(q.get('keyword','')in u.urlopen(q.get('target','')).read().decode()).lower().encode())
 h.HTTPServer(('',31337),S).serve_forever()

**Character count: 314**

c solution
==========

.. code-block:: c

 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #include <curl/curl.h>
 struct M{char*m;size_t s;};size_t w(void*c,size_t z,size_t n,void*u){size_t r=z*n;struct M*m=u;char*p=realloc(m->m,m->s+r+1);if(!p)return 0;m->m=p;memcpy(&m->m[m->s],c,r);m->s+=r;m->m[m->s]=0;return r;}int f(char*u,char**o){CURL*h;struct M c={malloc(1),0};curl_global_init(0);h=curl_easy_init();if(h){curl_easy_setopt(h,10002,u);curl_easy_setopt(h,20011,w);curl_easy_setopt(h,10001,&c);curl_easy_perform(h);curl_easy_cleanup(h);}curl_global_cleanup();*o=c.m;return 1;}void s(int k,char*r){char b[256];sprintf(b,"HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: %zu\r\n\r\n%s",strlen(r),r);send(k,b,strlen(b),0);}int main(){int v=socket(2,1,0),c;struct sockaddr_in a={2,htons(31337),0};bind(v,(void*)&a,16);listen(v,10);while(1){c=accept(v,0,0);char b[4096],*q,*t,*d;recv(c,b,4095,0);q=strchr(b,'?');if(q&&(t=strstr(q,"target="))&&(q=strstr(q,"keyword="))){char*p;if((p=strchr(t+7,'&')))*(p)=0;else if((p=strchr(t+7,' ')))*(p)=0;if((p=strchr(q+8,'&')))*(p)=0;else if((p=strchr(q+8,' ')))*(p)=0;if(f(t+7,&d))s(c,strstr(d,q+8)?"true":"false");else s(c,"false");free(d);}else s(c,"false");close(c);}}

**Character count: 1,232**

how they work
=============

**Python version (314 chars):**

1. Compressed imports with short aliases
2. Minimal variable names (``s`` for self, ``q`` for query)
3. Chained operations on single lines
4. No error handling or validation
5. Direct string conversion of boolean result

**C version (1,232 chars):**

1. Single-character variable names
2. Removes all whitespace and comments
3. Uses curl magic numbers instead of constants
4. Minimal HTTP response formatting
5. No error checking or memory leak prevention

docker implementation
=====================

**Python Dockerfile:**

.. code-block:: dockerfile

 FROM alpine:latest
 ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/webwords"]
 EXPOSE 31337
 COPY golf.py /bin/webwords
 RUN chmod 0754 /bin/webwords
 RUN apk --no-cache add python3 ca-certificates && rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*

**C Dockerfile:**

.. code-block:: dockerfile

 FROM alpine:latest
 RUN apk --no-cache add gcc musl-dev curl-dev
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY golf.c .
 RUN gcc -o webwords golf.c -lcurl
 EXPOSE 31337
 CMD ["./webwords"]

testing
=======

**Python golf:**

.. code-block:: bash

 docker build -f Dockerfile.golf -t webwords-golf .
 docker run -d -p 31337:31337 webwords-golf
 curl "http://localhost:31337/?keyword=potato&target=https://www.remarkbox.com"

**C golf:**

.. code-block:: bash

 docker build -f Dockerfile.cgolf -t webwords-cgolf .
 docker run -d -p 31337:31337 webwords-cgolf
 curl "http://localhost:31337/?keyword=potato&target=https://www.remarkbox.com"

Both return ``true`` for potato and ``false`` for lemon, just like the full implementations.

comparison
==========

- **Full webwords Python**: 50+ lines, proper structure, error handling
- **Full webwords C**: 268 lines, proper structure, error handling
- **Python golf**: 3 lines, 314 characters, minimal functionality
- **C golf**: 1 line, 1,232 characters, minimal functionality
- **Functionality**: Identical for valid requests

These golf versions prove webwords' core concept can be distilled to its absolute essence while remaining functional across different programming paradigms.

.. image:: /uploads/2025/10/unpotato.jpg
   :alt: unpotato
   :align: center
   :width: 480px

.. contents::