How to Simulate Long HTTP Requests
It happens less frequently these days but there are times when we need to accommodate for a HTTP request timing out. The service could be down, under heavy traffic, or just poorly coded, or any host of other issues.
Whenever I need to simulate a long HTTP request, I use a bit of PHP to make it happen:
<?php
// Don't resolve this request for 5 seconds
sleep(5);
// A generic response
echo 'This is the response!';
// ... or hit a URL to make the case more realistic
echo file_get_contents('https://website.tld/endpoint');
?>
With that script created, I make PHP start a server so I can make the request locally:
php -S localhost:8000
Now I can hit http://localhost:8000 and get the long request I want!
There are a number of ways you can accomplish these long form requests but this has always been a favorite of mine!
![CSS 3D Folding Animation]()
Google Plus provides loads of inspiration for front-end developers, especially when it comes to the CSS and JavaScript wonders they create. Last year I duplicated their incredible PhotoStack effect with both MooTools and pure CSS; this time I'm going to duplicate...
![5 Awesome New Mozilla Technologies You’ve Never Heard Of]()
My trip to Mozilla Summit 2013 was incredible. I've spent so much time focusing on my project that I had lost sight of all of the great work Mozillians were putting out. MozSummit provided the perfect reminder of how brilliant my colleagues are and how much...
![MooTools Fun with Fx.Shake]()
Adding movement to your website is a great way to attract attention to specific elements that you want users to notice. Of course you could use Flash or an animated GIF to achieve the movement effect but graphics can be difficult to maintain. Enter...
![Checkbox Filtering Using MooTools ElementFilter]()
When I first wrote MooTools ElementFilter, I didn't think much of it. Fast forward eight months later and I've realized I've used the plugin a billion times. Hell, even one of the "big 3" search engines is using it for their maps application.
That’s cool! Thanks for the tip.
I could see having it take a query param to set the sleep time arbitrarily for different scenarios you’re simulating.
Thanks David always love your content.
Although in this particular case i fail to understand a practical use, could you share an example?
thanks !
And here is concise way to do it in NodeJs, the server will wait for 3 seconds before response:
const http = require('http') const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { setTimeout(() => { res.writeHead(200) res.end('Hello, World!') }, 3000) }) server.listen(8080)