Sockets:

Two types:

User Datagram Protocol (UDP):
-- send "datagram" packets
-- no ordering provided
-- no reliability
-- minimial, so low overhead

Transmission Control Protocol:
-- stream of data (abstraction)
-- ordering maintained
-- guarantees delivery if possible


Technologies:

HTTP  TLS/SSL
  \     /
   \   /
    TCP  UDP
     \    /
      \  /
       IP
       /
     Eth0
     
* HTTPS is HTTP using SSL *

----------------------------------------------------

Interface:


//
// initiate a connection
//
FILE* accept(socket, IO);

send(conn, buffer, size, flags);

recv(conn, buffer, size, flags);

Need to worry about endian-ness
	Networking is all big-endian.
	Most desktop computers have both big-endian and little-endian mode.
	Methods for changing endian-ness:
		nohs()
		hstor()

Make sure you close your connection when you are done. Otherwise you will run out
of available file descriptors.