Learn by doing: code a Web server in Node.js. Most people use HTTP daily, but few understand its inner workings. This Build Your Own X book dives deep, teaching basics from scratch for a clearer understanding of the tools and tech we rely on. The first step is to make programs talk over a network. This is also called socket programming. But socket programming is more than just gluing APIs together! It's easy to end up with half-working solutions if you skip the basics. In order to communicate over a network, the data sent over the network must conform to a specific format called a "protocol". Learn how to create or implement any network protocols by using HTTP as the target. You probably already know something about HTTP, such as URLs, different methods like GET and POST, response codes, various headers, and etc. But have you ever thought that you can create all the details from scratch, by your own code? It's not very complicated and it's rewarding. The project uses Node.js without any dependencies, but many concepts are language-agnostic, so it's valuable for learners of any language. Code samples use TypeScript with type annotations for readability, but the differences from JS are minor.