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Curl Notes

curl has been running on virtually every computer on the planet since 1998. Almost nobody who uses it daily has read a line of its source code.

These are my notes from trying to change that — working through the internals, one module at a time. DNS, TLS, cookies, redirects, the HTTP engine. Written as I go, so expect rough edges and open questions alongside the observations.

First Steps

·1 min

What I did Today #

  • Static code review.
  • Initial impression of the curl git repo.

How Things Went #

Everything seemed so overwhelming and not knowing where to start and what next.

One thought was to use an automated static code analyzer. ChatGPT suggested SonarCube, and so I started down another rabbit-hole, hopefully not a disastrous decision.

cURL Docs: Reading Notes

·1 min

Scope #

Browsed around the https://curl.se/docs/ and gaping at the vastness of the tool’s architecture

Key Observations #

  • Be consistent, and spend atleast 15-20min each day, in exploring the portal

  • Ask yourself, what can I do, to contribute? It may be too early, but having the question at the back of your mind would be useful

Roadmap

·1 min

Roadmap #

  • Regular cadence
  • Roadmap of ideas
  • Incrementally better content

Next Actions #

  • What next?