Using This Book

This text can be used as either a tutorial on network programming or as a reference for experienced programmers. When used as a tutorial or for an introductory class on network programming, the emphasis should be on Part 2, "Elementary Sockets" (Chapters 3 through 11), followed by whatever additional topics are of interest. Part 2 covers the basic socket functions for both TCP and UDP, along with SCTP, I/O multiplexing, socket options, and basic name and address conversions. Chapter 1 should be read by all readers, especially Section 1.4, which describes some wrapper functions used throughout the text. Chapter 2 and perhaps Appendix A should be referred to as necessary, depending on the reader's background. Most of the chapters in Part 3, "Advanced Sockets," can be read independently of the others in that part of the book.

To aid in the use of this book as a reference, a thorough index is provided, along with summaries on the end papers of where to find detailed descriptions of all the functions and structures. To help those reading topics in a random order, numerous references to related topics are provided throughout the text.