hical

Hical is a modern C++20/26 high-performance web framework built on Boost.Asio with a native HTTP/WebSocket stack (picohttpparser + self-developed WebSocket), leveraging C++26 reflection and PMR memory pooling for maximum throughput.

Status: Stable — production-ready, follows Semantic Versioning.

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Why Hical?

Dimension	Hical	Drogon	Cinatra	Crow / oatpp
C++ Standard	C++20/26	C++17	C++20	C++11/14
Reflection / Auto-routing	Native C++26 reflection + C++20 macro dual-track	Macro registration	Macro registration	Manual registration
Memory Model	PMR three-tier pool (zero heap alloc per request)	Traditional allocator	Traditional allocator	Traditional allocator
HTTP Parsing	picohttpparser zero-copy (stack-based 64 headers)	Custom parser	picohttpparser	Custom / http-parser
WebSocket	Self-developed + permessage-deflate + Hub broadcast	Built-in	Built-in	Third-party
Coroutine Model	asio::awaitable<T> native coroutines	Custom coroutines	asio::awaitable	None / thread pool

Core Features

• Native network stack — picohttpparser zero-copy HTTP parsing + self-developed WebSocket (RFC 6455), zero heap allocation
• C++26 Reflection — Automatic route registration + JSON serialization; seamless C++20 macro fallback
• Coroutine async I/O — asio::awaitable<T> + co_await, sync fast path with zero coroutine frame overhead
• PMR three-tier pool — Global synchronized / thread-local lock-free / request-level monotonic buffer
• Full-featured middleware — Onion model, CORS, Session, Logging, OpenAPI 3.0 doc generation
• WebSocket — permessage-deflate compression, Hub broadcast, subprotocol negotiation, heartbeat
• Database middleware — Coroutine connection pool + auto-transaction + slow query detection (Boost.MySQL)
• Production-ready — SSL/TLS, SO_REUSEPORT multi-acceptor, static file ETag/304, Docker deployment

Full feature list in Architecture.

Quick Start

#include "core/HttpServer.h"

using namespace hical;

int main()
{
    HttpServer server(8080);

    server.router().get("/", [](const HttpRequest&) -> HttpResponse {
        return HttpResponse::json({{"message", "Hello, Hical!"}});
    });

    server.router().get("/users/{id}",
        [](const HttpRequest& req) -> HttpResponse {
            return HttpResponse::json({{"userId", req.param("id")}});
        });

    server.start();
}

curl http://localhost:8080/
# {"message":"Hello, Hical!"}

Full tutorial at docs/quickstart.md, more examples in examples/.

Performance

Native HTTP/WebSocket stack with zero heap allocation on critical paths, sync fast path route dispatch ~40-130 ns/req.

# Docker one-click comparative benchmark (Hical vs Drogon / Cinatra / Crow / Gin / Actix etc.)
cd benchmark && docker compose up

Actual QPS varies by hardware — run the benchmark on your target environment for real numbers. See Performance Report.

Requirements

Dependency	Notes
C++20/26	C++26 optional (reflection)
Boost >= 1.82	Asio, System, JSON; DB middleware needs >= 1.85
OpenSSL	Required
zlib	Required (WebSocket compression)
CMake >= 3.20	Build system
GCC 14+ / Clang 20+ / MSVC 2022+	Compiler

Build

# Linux / macOS
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

# Windows (MSYS2 MINGW64)
cmake -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build

# Windows (MSVC + vcpkg)
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=C:/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
cmake --build build --config Release

Optional modules:

cmake -B build -DHICAL_WITH_DATABASE=ON ...    # Database middleware
cmake -B build -DHICAL_WITH_OPENAPI=OFF ...    # Disable OpenAPI
cmake -B build -DHICAL_ENABLE_REFLECTION=ON ...# C++26 Reflection

Docker

# Production deployment
docker compose -f docker/prod/docker-compose.yml up -d

Installation

vcpkg (Recommended)

vcpkg install hical61-hical

find_package(hical CONFIG REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE hical::hical_core)

Conan

Download the Conan source package from GitHub Releases and export to local cache:

# Download & extract (replace VERSION with actual version)
curl -LO https://github.com/Hical61/Hical/releases/download/vVERSION/hical-VERSION-conan-src.tar.gz
tar xzf hical-VERSION-conan-src.tar.gz

# Export to local Conan cache
cd hical
conan export . --version=VERSION
conan install . --build=missing

find_package(hical REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE hical::hical_core)

See Integration Guide for details.

Documentation

• Quick Start
• Build & Test
• Examples Guide
• API Reference
• Architecture
• Integration Guide
• Performance Report
• Performance Analysis Guide
• Changelog
• Contributing

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Basic workflow:

1. Fork this repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feat/my-feature)
3. Ensure clang-format checks and tests pass
4. Submit a Pull Request

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Contact

• Email: hical0601@gmail.com
• GitHub Issues: Report a problem

License

MIT