DotNetSockets

.NET Framework 1.1

Here is a UML diagram with the most important stuff of the net library in .NET Framework 1.1.

In .NET you either work with Socket directly or use one of the helper classes TcpClient, TcpListener and UdpClient. They are all based on Socket as you can see. For reading and writing you either call methods of Socket or use the NetworkStream class of TcpClient. This class isn't in the UML diagram as it has similar methods as Socket for reading and writing. It supports the synchronous and asynchronous I/O model as well.

Good:

• Socket supports a synchronous and an asynchronous I/O model. There is just one interface for an asynchronous I/O model - the implementation is hidden in the library. It is unknown to the library user if the implementation is based on multiplexing, aio, I/O completionports etc.
• The classes TcpClient, TcpListener and UdpClient help the library user as they provide slim interfaces.

Bad:

• Socket is an allround-class with a fat interface: It supports servers and clients, streams and datagrams.
• The classes TcpClient, TcpListener and UdpClient support only the synchronous I/O model.
• The classes TcpClient, TcpListener and UdpClient provide no real value to the library user except for making the fat interface of class Socket slim. These three classes are based on class Socket - their methods just forward calls to the appropriate methods of class Socket.