I've been through one book fully of C++, I didn't find it to be very helpful for a beginner at the time, I was very confused with a lot of the material, kind of set me back a bit, especially containers, file I/O, etc. On my second book, relearning stuff that I was confused about and little bits of information that I never knew before. I feel I've become better at C++ even though I've only been doing it for a few years.

Anyway, I'm mainly wanting to work on games, but it's always good to learn about other stuff besides games and how they work. Now, networking is something I've not delved into yet, it's always been in the back of my mind and when I should learn a bit about it.

I was just wondering which books you would recommend learning from about network programming, networking in general and maybe a good library for C++ to use. I've just thought about working on an Instant Messenger program and wouldn't even know where to start.

Cheers, I had heard about ASIO, but wasn't too sure if it was still widely used. I haven't heard of RakNet.

I have heard people mention WinSock, is that used still, does it accomplish the same things that ASIO or RakNet do?

About the books, are they more practical learning or are they mainly just for reading purposes and not participating in exercises?

I would also like to ask, would be a good idea to learn about servers and setting up a server if I were to start learning about networking?

Another thing I want to mention is that I am currently learning how to use the SFML library, it has a built in Network Module, just wondering if that is also something I should look into. I am using an SFML book at the moment and I am pretty sure it includes network programming in that.

Thanks for the info, will definitely pursue into using ASIO in the near future as well as reading those books.

It's something I should consider doing at some point due to how heavily online gaming has become or even social networking involved in games. Very simple things like being able to share high scores across social networking sites, adding friends on mobile games or just general interacting with another players world.

With programs like an instant messenger, it's mainly for learning purposes, but you wouldn't need a server for that would you, or would you have one person lets say, open some sort of lobby that everyone can join, or be invited to.