Networked Graphics

Chapter 6. Sockets and middleware

Introduction

Having now seen several demonstrations of networked applications, and having reviewed the underlying technology of the Internet and the main issues we have deploying networked virtual environments on the Internet, in this chapter we discuss middleware, software which provides layers of functionality on top of the raw operating system and network programming API support. While middleware support for web-based applications is now relatively mature, it is only in the last few years that dedicated libraries for networked virtual environments have emerged. This chapter discusses the need for middleware and introduces some generic middleware for simplifying low-level network programming. In Chapter 7 and ...