Core Python Programming

16.2. Sockets: Communication Endpoints

16.2.1. What Are Sockets?

Sockets are computer networking data structures which embody the concept of the “communication endpoint” described in the previous section. Networked applications must create sockets before any type of communication can commence. They can be likened to telephone jacks, without which engaging in communication is impossible.

Sockets originated in the 1970s from the University of California, Berkeley version of UNIX, known as BSD UNIX. Therefore, you will sometimes hear these sockets referred to as “Berkeley sockets” or “BSD sockets.” Sockets were originally created for same-host applications where they would enable one running program (a.k.a. a process) to communicate with another ...