Hands-On Network Programming with C

Book excerpt: A comprehensive guide to programming with network sockets, implementing internet protocols, designing IoT devices, and much more with C Key FeaturesApply your C and C++ programming skills to build powerful network applicationsGet to grips with a variety of network protocols that allow you to load web pages, send emails, and do much moreWrite portable network code for Windows, Linux, and macOSBook Description 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. What you will learnUncover cross-platform socket programming APIsImplement techniques for supporting IPv4 and IPv6Understand how TCP and UDP connections work over IPDiscover how hostname resolution and DNS workInterface with web APIs using HTTP and HTTPSExplore Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for electronic mail transmissionApply network programming to the Internet of Things (IoT)Who this book is for If you're a developer or a system administrator who wants to get started with network programming, this book is for you. Basic knowledge of C programming is assumed.