Key Features

Apply your C/C programming skills to build powerful network applications

Get to grips with a variety of network protocols that allow you to load web pages, send emails, and do much more

Write portable network code for Windows, Linux, and macOS

Book 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 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 be ready to overcome challenges in network programming with the powerful C language.

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 learn

Uncover cross-platform socket programming APIs

Implement techniques for supporting IPv4 and IPv6

Understand how TCP and UDP connections work over IP

Discover how hostname resolution and DNS work

Interface with web APIs using HTTP and HTTPS

Explore Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for electronic mail transmission

Apply 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.

Table of Contents

Introducing Networks and Protocols

Getting to Grips with Socket APIs

An In-Depth Overview of TCP connections

Establishing UDP Connections

Hostname Resolution and DNS

Building a Simple Web Client

Building a Simple Web Server

Making Your Program Send Emails

Loading Secure Web Pages with HTTPS and OpenSSL

Implementing a Secure Web Server

Establishing SSH Connections

Network Monitoring and Security

Socket Programming Tips and Pitfalls

Web Programming for the Internet of Things

Answers to Questions

Setting Up Your C Compiler on Windows

Setting Up Your C Compiler on Linux

Setting Up Your C Compiler on macOS

Example Programs