Networking & Internet APIs
The Windows Networking APIs provide developers with the tools needed to create robust network-enabled applications. This section covers core APIs such as Winsock, HTTP services, FTP, DNS, and security protocols.
Winsock
HTTP Services
FTP
DNS
Security (SCHANNEL)
Winsock (Windows Sockets)
Winsock provides a standard TCP/IP and UDP networking interface for Windows applications.
#include <winsock2.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "Ws2_32.lib")
int main() {
WSADATA wsaData;
if (WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2,2), &wsaData) != 0) {
return 1;
}
// socket creation, connection, etc.
WSACleanup();
return 0;
}
HTTP Services (WinHTTP & WinInet)
WinHTTP and WinInet simplify HTTP client development.
#include <winhttp.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "winhttp.lib")
int main() {
HINTERNET hSession = WinHttpOpen(L"Sample/1.0", WINHTTP_ACCESS_TYPE_AUTOMATIC_PROXY, NULL, NULL, 0);
// more code...
WinHttpCloseHandle(hSession);
return 0;
}
FTP Functions
FTP support via WinInet functions for file transfer operations.
DNS APIs
Retrieve DNS information using DnsQuery, DnsRecordListFree, and related functions.
#include <windns.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "dnsapi.lib")
int main() {
PDNS_RECORD pRecord;
if (DnsQuery_W(L"example.com", DNS_TYPE_A, DNS_QUERY_STANDARD, NULL, &pRecord, NULL) == 0) {
// process record
DnsRecordListFree(pRecord, DnsFreeRecordList);
}
return 0;
}