UNIX® System V Network Programming

7. Sockets

The socket interface that originated in the BSD UNIX operating system is also provided in System V Release 4. This allows the many applications written to the socket interface to be ported, relatively easily, to SVR4-based systems. This chapter presents the socket interface, comparing it to the Transport Layer Interface (TLI) and describing the deviations from the BSD implementation.

7.1. Introduction

The socket mechanism first appeared in the 4.1c release of the BSD UNIX operating system, circa 1982. Sockets became widely used with the 4.2 release shortly there-after. The socket interface was refined and enhanced in the 4.3BSD release in 1986. The interface was enhanced again in the 4.3BSD Reno release in 1990. In it, the structure ...