Socket Hear it!

Socket definition - hacker
Is roughly analogous to a port and is a communication endpoint for a TCP or UDP connection. One process is said to open a socket to listen for incoming connections, and a second process connects to a socket to establish a communication session. 

Sockets can also be used for interprocess communication on a single computer, and multiple sockets can be made to communicate with one another. Sockets are bidirectional, which means that both sides of the connection can send and receive information.

See Also: Port and Port Numbers; TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol; User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

About, Inc. Socket. [Online, 2004.] About, Inc. Website. http://compnet working.about.com/library/glossary/bldef-socket.htm.

Webster's New World Hacker Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by Bernadette Schell and Clemens Martin.
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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