Java Network Programming, 3rd Edition

Chapter 9. Sockets for Clients

Data is transmitted across the Internet in packets of finite size called datagrams . Each datagram contains a header and a payload . The header contains the address and port to which the packet is going, the address and port from which the packet came, and various other housekeeping information used to ensure reliable transmission. The payload contains the data itself. However, since datagrams have a finite length, it’s often necessary to split the data across multiple packets and reassemble it at the destination. It’s also possible that one or more packets may be lost or corrupted in transit and need to be retransmitted or that packets arrive out of order and need to be reordered. Keeping track of this—splitting the data into packets, generating headers, parsing the headers of incoming packets, keeping track of what packets have and haven’t been received, and so on—is a lot of work and requires a lot of intricate code.

Fortunately, you don’t have to do the work yourself. Sockets allow the programmer to treat a network connection as just another stream onto which bytes can be written and from which bytes can be read. Sockets shield the programmer from low-level details of the network, such as error detection, packet sizes, packet retransmission, network addresses, and more.

Socket Basics

A socket is a connection between two hosts. It can perform seven basic operations:

• Connect to a remote machine

• Send data

• Receive data

• Close a connection

• Bind to a port

• Listen ...