DEV Community: Henriques Ombisa

# Building a Non-Blocking Multithreaded TCP Server in C++

Henriques Ombisa — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:38:20 +0000

Most developers spend their time building APIs, dashboards, and CRUD systems.
But at some point, I wanted to go deeper — to understand how servers actually work at a lower level.

So I built a simple non-blocking multithreaded TCP server in C++.

Why this project?

This wasn’t about building something production-ready.
It was about learning:

How TCP servers handle multiple clients
What “non-blocking I/O” really means in practice
How multithreading impacts performance and scalability
The hidden complexity behind backend systems

Core Concepts

1. TCP Sockets

The foundation of communication between client and server.
Using low-level socket APIs gives full control — and full responsibility.

2. Non-Blocking I/O

Instead of waiting for operations to complete, the server continues execution.

This avoids:

Blocking the entire process
Wasting CPU cycles on idle connections

3. Multithreading

Each connection can be handled independently, allowing multiple clients to interact with the server simultaneously.

But this introduces new challenges:

Thread management
Synchronization issues
Resource contention

Key Challenges

While building this, I ran into several real-world problems:

Creating too many threads can kill performance
Poor synchronization leads to race conditions
Mixing non-blocking I/O with threads requires careful design

This is where you start understanding why modern systems use:

Thread pools
Event loops (like epoll)
Hybrid architectures

What I Learned

This project changed how I see backend systems.

Things that look “simple” at a high level — like handling requests — are actually complex under the hood.

You start to appreciate:

Node.js event loop
Nginx architecture
High-performance networking systems

What’s Next?

I’m planning to evolve this project into something more advanced:

Replace thread-per-connection with a thread pool
Introduce event-driven I/O (epoll)
Build a custom protocol on top of it
Benchmark performance under load

Source Code

Check out the project here:
https://github.com/HenriquesOmbisa/mojo-raw-cpp

Final Thoughts

If you’re a developer and you’ve never built something like this, I highly recommend it.

It forces you to think differently.
It pushes you beyond frameworks.
And it gives you a real understanding of how systems work.

This is where software engineering actually begins.

🚀 Escaping the CRUD Routine with PHP — Crypto Discord Monitor

Henriques Ombisa — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:01:45 +0000

Recently, after finishing a Go backend project for a client, I found myself with some free time.

And I thought:

"What if I build something different from the usual CRUD/API stuff?"

So, I decided to go back to PHP, the first language I ever used professionally (it powered my very first paid project), and I built the Crypto Discord Monitor.

It was a fun way to break the routine while building something useful for traders and crypto enthusiasts.

📊 What’s the project about?

It’s a simple cryptocurrency price monitor that sends live updates to a Discord server via webhooks.

It supports multiple cryptocurrencies, has configurable alerts, and even performs automatic conversions to USD and AOA (Angolan Kwanza).

✨ Features

✅ Monitor multiple cryptocurrencies (via CoinGecko API)
✅ Automatic conversion to USD and AOA
✅ Configurable price alerts
✅ CLI interface to manage:
- Tracked cryptocurrencies
- Discord webhook
- Custom alerts
✅ Built with OOP (Object-Oriented Programming) for easy maintenance and expansion

⚡ Example Usage

📌 Add a crypto:

php main.php add-crypto bitcoin

📌 Create an alert (e.g., when BTC goes above $70k):

php main.php add-alert bitcoin 70000 above "BTC 🚀 To the moon!"

📌 Run the bot:

php main.php run

And that’s it — the bot takes care of everything, sending alerts directly to your Discord channel. 🎯

🖥️ Screenshots & Demo

🌍 Motivation

This project came from my desire to explore PHP beyond CRUD and APIs.

It brought me back to that same excitement I felt when I first coded in PHP years ago — and reminded me that there’s still room to reimagine what PHP can do.

📂 Repository

🔗 GitHub link

📜 License

🚀 Fugindo do CRUD com PHP — Crypto Discord Monitor

Henriques Ombisa — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:49:40 +0000

Recentemente, depois de finalizar o backend de um projeto em Go para um cliente, fiquei com algum tempo livre. E pensei:
"E se eu criasse algo fora da rotina CRUD/API?"

Resolvi voltar ao PHP, a primeira linguagem que usei profissionalmente (foi nela que fiz meu primeiro trabalho comercial), e criei o Crypto Discord Monitor.
Foi uma forma de sair da rotina e, ao mesmo tempo, construir algo útil para traders e entusiastas.

📊 O que é o projeto?

Um simples monitor de preços de criptomoedas que envia atualizações para um servidor Discord via webhooks.

Ele suporta múltiplas criptomoedas, possui alertas configuráveis e faz conversão automática para USD e KZ (Kwanza Angolano).

✨ Funcionalidades

✅ Monitoramento de várias criptos (CoinGecko API)
✅ Conversão automática para USD e AOA
✅ Alertas configuráveis por preço
✅ CLI para gerenciar:
- Criptos a monitorar
- Webhook do Discord
- Alertas personalizados
✅ Estrutura em OOP (Orientado a Objetos) para facilitar manutenção e expansão

⚡ Exemplo de uso

📌 Adicionar uma crypto:

php main.php add-crypto bitcoin

📌 Criar um alerta (ex: quando BTC passar de 70k USD):

php main.php add-alert bitcoin 70000 above "BTC 🚀 To the moon!"

📌 Executar:

php main.php run

E o bot cuida do resto, enviando alertas diretamente no seu canal do Discord. 🎯

🖥️ Prints & Demo

🌍 Motivação

Esse projeto nasceu da vontade de explorar o PHP além do CRUD e APIs.
Ele me trouxe de volta àquela sensação de quando programei pela primeira vez em PHP, lá atrás, e percebi que ainda há espaço para reinventar o uso dessa linguagem.

📂 Repositório

🔗link do github