The latest articles on DEV Community by Fabio D. (@fd_zero). https://dev.to/fd_zero https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3999946%2F04ba6d00-c4fe-4652-bee9-92c013e7de8e.png https://dev.to/fd_zero en Fabio D. Wed, 24 Jun 2026 07:52:55 +0000 https://dev.to/fd_zero/i-wanted-a-lightweight-native-http-client-so-i-built-one-in-c11-2d7i https://dev.to/fd_zero/i-wanted-a-lightweight-native-http-client-so-i-built-one-in-c11-2d7i <p>Over the last 8 months, I've been building a native HTTP client for Windows and macOS called <strong>ReqKit</strong>.</p> <p>The project started because I was looking for an API tool that felt more like a traditional desktop application than a web application packaged as a desktop app.</p> <p>I was interested in exploring what could be achieved by relying primarily on the operating system itself: native UI toolkits, native networking APIs, and a minimal dependency footprint.</p> <p>As an experiment, I decided to build the application directly on top of:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Win32</strong> on Windows</li> <li> <strong>Cocoa</strong> on macOS</li> </ul> <p>using <strong>C11</strong> as the common foundation.</p> <p>The result is a native desktop application focused on REST API testing and JSON workflows, without requiring accounts, cloud services, or external infrastructure.</p> <p>One of the most interesting parts of the project has been discovering how much modern desktop software can still be built using operating-system APIs directly, without adding layers of frameworks, runtimes, or large dependency trees.</p> <p>I'd be curious to hear from developers who are still building native desktop software today.</p> <p>Links:</p> <ul> <li>Project website: <a href="https://reqkit-app.github.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://reqkit-app.github.io/</a> </li> </ul> c networking webdev programming