Java™ How To Program (Early Objects), Tenth Edition

Step 2: Wait for a Connection

Programs manage each client connection with a Socket object. In Step 2, the server listens indefinitely (or blocks) for an attempt by a client to connect. To listen for a client connection, the program calls ServerSocket method accept, as in

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Socket connection = server.accept();

which returns a Socket when a connection with a client is established. The Socket allows the server to interact with the client. The interactions with the client actually occur at a different server port from the handshake point. This allows the port specified in Step 1 to be used again in a multithreaded server to accept another client connection. We demonstrate this concept in Section 28.7.