to_improve.md

Design Flaw: Connection Management

The http_client_t struct contains a connection handle HINTERNET connection, but it is never used. The http_request function creates, uses, and closes a new TCP connection for every single request. This approach has two main problems:

• Inefficiency: Establishing a new TCP and TLS (for HTTPS) connection for each request is slow and resource-intensive. Reusing connections is a major performance optimization (HTTP Keep-Alive).
• Confusing Design: The presence of client->connection suggests that the client manages a persistent connection, which is not the case.

Recommendation: You have two options to fix this:

1. Simple Fix: Remove the HINTERNET connection; field from the http_client_t struct to accurately reflect that connections are managed per-request.
2. Better Fix (More Complex): Refactor the logic to reuse connections. This would involve checking if an active connection for the target host/port already exists in the client, using it if available, and creating one otherwise (http_client.c:193).