can i advance to socket programming

[brokenbot]

hey, I've read c++ without fear; will reading this enable me with the knowledge
I need to advance to socket programming?
If not what books do you recommend?

Also I'm debating if books are the right way...
Having the forums and basic synopsis outlines over the web aiding me in learning c++.
Is it worth the time to spend on books?

[chrisname]

You can try, http://beej.us/guide/bgnet/
however it is very difficult, particularly on windows.

[Incubbus]

since this is the windows part of the forum... http://www.c-worker.ch :P...

[chrisname]

Yes, the beej guide is strongly *nix oriented.

I hoped to convert him.

Just kidding, I didn't know of any windows guides. Honest!

At this point in the guide, historically, I've done a bit of bagging on Windows, simply due to the fact that I don't like it very much. But I should really be fair and tell you that Windows has a huge install base and is obviously a perfectly fine operating system.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and in this case, I believe it to be true. (Or maybe it's age.) But what I can say is that after a decade-plus of not using Microsoft OSes for my personal work, I'm much happier! As such, I can sit back and safely say, "Sure, feel free to use Windows!" ...Ok yes, it does make me grit my teeth to say that.

So I still encourage you to try Linux, BSD, or some flavor of Unix, instead.

But people like what they like, and you Windows folk will be pleased to know that this information is generally applicable to you guys, with a few minor changes, if any.

One cool thing you can do is install Cygwin, which is a collection of Unix tools for Windows. I've heard on the grapevine that doing so allows all these programs to compile unmodified.

But some of you might want to do things the Pure Windows Way. That's very gutsy of you, and this is what you have to do: run out and get Unix immediately! No, no—I'm kidding. I'm supposed to be Windows-friendly(er) these days..

[hidipak]

First read Berkley socket programing and then go ahead on Windows sock. prgming. You will also get help on MSDN.