TCP/IP Sockets in Java: Practical Guide for Programmers

by Michael J. Donahoo and Kenneth L. Calvert

Book Overview

The networking capabilities of the Java platform have been extended considerably since the first edition of the book. This new edition covers version 1.5-1.7, the most current iterations, as well as making the following improvements:

The API (application programming interface) reference sections in each chapter, which describe the relevant parts of each class, have been replaced with (i) a summary section that lists the classes and methods used in the code, and (ii) a "gotchas" section that mentions nonobvious or poorly-documented aspects of the objects.

In addition, the book covers several new classes and capabilities introduced in the last few revisions of the Java platform. New abstractions to be covered include NetworkInterface, InterfaceAddress, Inet4/6Address, SocketAddress/InetSocketAddress, Executor, and others; extended access to low-level network information; support for IPv6; more complete access to socket options; and scalable I/O. The example code is also modified to take advantage of new language features such as annotations, enumerations, as well as generics and implicit iterators where appropriate.

Most Internet applications use sockets to implement network communication protocols. This book's focused, tutorial-based approach helps the reader master the tasks and techniques essential to virtually all client-server projects using sockets in Java. Chapter 1 provides a general overview of networking concepts to allow readers to synchronize the concepts with terminology. Chapter 2 introduces the mechanics of simple clients and servers. Chapter 3 covers basic message construction and parsing. Chapter 4 then deals with techniques used to build more robust clients and servers. Chapter 5 (NEW) introduces the scalable interface facilities which were introduced in Java 1.5, including the buffer and channel abstractions. Chapter 6 discusses the relationship between the programming constructs and the underlying protocol implementations in more detail. Programming concepts are introduced through simple program examples accompanied by line-by-line code commentary that describes the purpose of every part of the program. No other resource presents so concisely or so effectively the material necessary to get up and running with Java sockets programming.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0123742552
• ISBN13: 9780123742551
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

excellent intro

a very nice, intro level book. it starts at the very beginning, but doesn't waste a lot of time; provides the reader with some simple working examples, well explained; and points the way to more sophisticated stuff. perfect.

The Right Book To Buy

I very much agree with the other reviews on this site. This book hits the meat of using TCP/IP with Java. Some prerequisites for this book are the following topics. I recommend that you get a single book for each topic.* Basic Java Programming including I/O and Threads* The TCP/IP protocol suite and TCP/IP networking* Cryptography (recommended)* Java Security (recommended)You will need additional books if you want to hit topics such as these: Java's application-level networking API's, Servlets, JSP, RMI, CORBA. I also recommend this book because it lists references to 22 such supplemental books/documents.

To the Point .. Easy to Follow

TCP/IP Sockets in Java is a great way for any Java programmer to get started. The code examples are numerous yet thorough and clear. This book should be enough information to get any Java programmer started with the sockets API. There are a few things that this book is not. Its not a complete reference of the sockets API. Its not a thorough reference of TCP/IP. Finally, this book is not for people who are new to Java. Overall a great book if you want to get started with TCP/IP in Java.

Very Well Laid Out Book

This book, with only 116 pages, is very well laid out. It explains in detail that is somewhat rare in technical books such that any average java programmer should be able to follow it very well. Also, it keeps focus on its discussion so that it explains the main meat of the Sockets API in the 116 pages that make up the book. After reading this book, the average Java Programmer should be able to apply this knowledge to any Socket-needing application. One thing the book cautions the programmer about is how to avoid deadlock and gives the solution of using Threads, one for reading and one for writing, on both sides of the connection, to prevent deadlock in the case where the write methods block on both sides of the socket connection at the same time. I would recommend this book for anyone attempting to make a socket-based chatroom or socket-based multi-user internet game using Java, whether in the form of Applets or Applications, no matter the version of JDK, because this book stays in the core API that has been around for a while.

I like it.

Short, cheap and stays on topic. What more could you ask for? About the size of K & R and (inexpensive), two great features right there. I am so very tired of computer books that could kill me if they fell out of my shelf. This book gives lots of example code, exactly what you need to figure out how to make use of all those java classes.