Are there any good and free libraries to develop web applications in C? [closed]

Question

I've searched the web a bit, but all I found was abandoned projects and only CGI support.

EDIT: C isn't just used for writing drivers or embedded systems. We have mailreaders, newsreaders, editors, etc. all written in C. I've written two BBS in the last century, before the web became popular. The libraries are getting better and you don't have to reinvent the wheel over and over again. Nice data structures and string handling is easily possible in C. But yet, there's not much going on in web development.

I'd like to come back to my roots and try to write web applications in C.

As for bad languages: People use C++, Perl, and PHP for web applications. It doesn't stop them that the common perception of these language isn't very good.

EDIT 2: I've written BBS software in C and nobody thought this was a crazy idea, although others have done it in GfA BASIC back then. I don't understand why today it should be considered a bad idea. Have a look at the software you are using or the most common programming languages in open source software.

Answer 1

If you're adventurous and open to a new web server, take a look at G-WAN. It serves dynamic content with ANSI-C scripts. It's small, fast, and free (though not open source). Browse the running samples with source to get a feel for G-WAN development.

If you spend time on the G-WAN site, you'll notice that its developer, Pierre Gauthier, has strong opinions about the state of software development today. Agree or disagree, his perspective is interesting given the increasing size and complexity of the tools we use everyday.

Answer 2

As others have noted C is not the best language for developing a web application. However, if the application's core is already written in C, AND you are ok with only a single user accessing the application at the time, AND you can trust that user (for instance, because the application will only be made available behind a firewall), then the swill library is an interesting choice. It is an embedded web server, which with a handful of lines can provide a web interface to any C application. I've used it twice, for the CScout refactoring browser and for providing a user interface to legacy production line optimization code, and it worked like a charm.