Help getting started in network programming

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10 comments, last by elendil67 21 years, 5 months ago
Hi. I want to try something new, and network programming sounds fun to try. My goal is to create something of a peer-to-peer application, such as an instant messenger or maybe even a file-sharing program. Does anyone know of any resources about how I can go about learning network programming, advice, books, etc.? What should I learn? I was looking at all of this network programming stuff, and it was baffling. TCP/IP, sockets, .NET, WinSock, I have no clue about what to do. Can you please tell me what the basic things of network programming are, and what you would recommend I learn? Any resources about learning network programming, advice, books, explanations about it and what it is, and directions about how to get started would be greatly appreciated. ------------------- The saddest part about Microsoft bashing is that it''s all true.
When you go homeTell them of us, and say:For your tomorrow,We gave our today.
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I think the following link is a good place to start. I haven''t been through all of the resources, so I''m not sure if they''re suitable for a beginner, but take a look anyway.

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=30

Good luck!
---------------------http://www.stodge.net
By the way, what language would be best suited for this? C, Java, Perl?

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The saddest part about Microsoft bashing is that it''s all true.
When you go homeTell them of us, and say:For your tomorrow,We gave our today.
You can probably take your pick of languages. For example, if you know Java, stick to Java. It''s a personal preference.
---------------------http://www.stodge.net
DirectPlay with Programming RoolePlaying Games with DIrectX seems a good way, Im learning it now, makeing a IM too!
Winsock 2 by Lewis Napper is a good book for programming TCP/IP under Windows, and to some degree networking in general. It''s starting to show it''s age a little, but the basics haven''t changed, and it comes with quite a bit of source code to help you along.
Thanks so far you guys. Anyone else? So let me get this straight: WinSock is for only Windows, so what can I use for other platforms? Is there something for Linux? WinSock is basically sockets for Windows? And most importantly, does anyone have any resources or know of any on how I should get started? Thanks!

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The saddest part about Microsoft bashing is that it''s all true.
When you go homeTell them of us, and say:For your tomorrow,We gave our today.
Winsock is the windows implementation of the sockets API, which is the primary networking API used by *NIX operating systems. Basically once you''ve learned one, you''ve learned all you need. The big difference between Winsock and traditional Berkeley sockets is in the emphasis on WSAAsyncSelect() and WSAEventSelect() over the traditional select() function.
Thanks for the reply. I was suspecting that maybe WinSock was the same thing. I guess then that I can check out almost any tutorials, UNIX or WinSock, because they probably show you how to initialize in WinSock too. Thanks. Anyone else with tips, pointations to some good tutorials?
When you go homeTell them of us, and say:For your tomorrow,We gave our today.
As Stodge linked, gamedev has a selection of networking tutorials. The only one I can attest to the accuracy of is Beej''s, but that''s fairly UNIX specific, i.e. bunches of posix stuff.

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