Introduction to .NET Networking

Understanding .NET Networking

The .NET Framework (and its successor, .NET Core / .NET 5+) provides a comprehensive set of classes for network communication. Whether you're building web services, client applications, or distributed systems, .NET offers robust and flexible solutions.

Key Concepts

Network programming involves sending and receiving data over a network. In .NET, this is primarily handled by namespaces like System.Net and System.Net.Sockets. These namespaces abstract away much of the complexity of lower-level network protocols, allowing developers to focus on application logic.

// Example of an HTTP GET request
using var client = new HttpClient();
var response = await client.GetAsync("https://api.example.com/data");
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
Console.WriteLine(content);
                    

// Basic TCP Listener setup
var listener = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Any, 12345);
listener.Start();
using var clientSocket = await listener.AcceptTcpClientAsync();
// ... handle client connection ...
listener.Stop();
                    

Uri baseUri = new Uri("http://www.example.com/");
Uri myUri = new Uri(baseUri, "/path/to/resource?id=123");
Console.WriteLine(myUri.AbsoluteUri);
                    

Getting Started with Network Programming

To begin your journey into .NET networking, you'll typically start with higher-level abstractions like HttpClient for making web requests. As your needs become more specific, you can explore socket programming for more granular control over network interactions.

Explore the following sections to learn more:

• Working with HttpClient
• Advanced Socket Programming
• Building RESTful APIs