Book Image

Hands-On Network Programming with C

By : Lewis Van Winkle
Book Image

Hands-On Network Programming with C

By: Lewis Van Winkle

Overview of this book

Network programming enables processes to communicate with each other over a computer network, but it is a complex task that requires programming with multiple libraries and protocols. With its support for third-party libraries and structured documentation, C is an ideal language to write network programs. Complete with step-by-step explanations of essential concepts and practical examples, this C network programming book begins with the fundamentals of Internet Protocol, TCP, and UDP. You’ll explore client-server and peer-to-peer models for information sharing and connectivity with remote computers. The book will also cover HTTP and HTTPS for communicating between your browser and website, and delve into hostname resolution with DNS, which is crucial to the functioning of the modern web. As you advance, you’ll gain insights into asynchronous socket programming and streams, and explore debugging and error handling. Finally, you’ll study network monitoring and implement security best practices. By the end of this book, you’ll have experience of working with client-server applications and be able to implement new network programs in C. The code in this book is compatible with the older C99 version as well as the latest C18 and C++17 standards. You’ll work with robust, reliable, and secure code that is portable across operating systems, including Winsock sockets for Windows and POSIX sockets for Linux and macOS.
Table of Contents (26 chapters)
Title Page
Dedication
About Packt
Contributors
Preface
Index

Anatomy of a socket program


As we mentioned in Chapter 1An Introduction to Networks and Protocols, network programming is usually done using a client-server paradigm. In this paradigm, a server listens for new connections at a published address. The client, knowing the server's address, is the one to establish the connection initially. Once the connection is established, the client and the server can both send and receive data. This can continue until either the client or the server terminates the connection.

A traditional client-server model usually implies different behaviors for the client and server. The way web browsing works, for example, is that the server resides at a known address, waiting for connections. A client (web browser) establishes a connection and sends a request that includes which web page or resource it wants to download. The server then checks that it knows what to do with this request and responds appropriately (by sending the web page).

An alternative paradigm is...