Professional .NET Network Programming

This book will give the reader:

An understanding of the general concepts of networking
Information about network programming in .NET with C#
Skills to build network-based applications in .NET
The confidence to use the classes shipped with .NET to implement your own application-level protocols.

After reading this book, readers will be confident C# network programmers, and understand the underlying protocols.

We begin with an overview of the most important background material, such as the architecture of physical networks, network protocols, the OSI model, streams in .NET, and the classes provided to facilitate access to streams such as StreamReader and StreamWriter.

Then we move onto sockets programming, with an introduction to the concept of sockets, and full coverage of using sockets in .NET. We look at TCP, UDP, and using multicast sockets in .NET. We also look briefly at application-level protocols built on top of these layers, such as SMTP and FTP.

The next stop is Internet programming, with a look at HTTP, the underlying protocol of the Internet, and e-mail protocols - we look at the .NET classes for sending e-mails via SMTP, and we see how we can implement POP3 and NNTP clients in .NET to read mailboxes and newsgroups.

The book finishes with an exploration of how to secure network communications in .NET - encrypting network traffic, certificates and SSL, authenticating and authorizing users with NTLM and Kerberos.

All the code examples in this book are in C#.

It covers the basic you have to know about networks and network protocols and then covers how to work with that on .NET.

The thing I like most on this book is that they loose almost no time with the common-places of distributed apps with .NET (the ones that every other book will cover, such as remoting and web services). The book covers really how to use TCP, UDP, and application level protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP and other.

Other aspect is that this book is really easy to follow and after you start you can't stop reading. I've received it on a friday night, so, I've consumed (devored) it on the weekend and I believe I would read it again...Great reading.


Great Book!   December 24, 2002
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

Not too many books attack the Network Programming side of what the .NET Framework can offer. I believe that this is a great book for anyone wanting to delve into the realms of protocols and get down to the nitty gritty!!! -Cool Book-


The best book of its kind.   December 5, 2002
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

What does C# , network programming, and .NET technology have in common? This book! It doesn't matter if you are new to network programming or a seasoned developer - this book will be valuable to any level of experience.The author leads the C# programmer through the basics of network programming and then builds upon advanced concepts utilizing .Net technology.

Although the entire book does a great job explaining important concepts such as socket and Internet programming (excellent coverage relating to protocols), my favorite section deals with secure network communications using .NET technology. Here the authors provide much needed and valuable information such as encrypting network traffic, using certificates and SSL, and authenticating and authorizing users with Kerberos and NTLM.

If you are a C# programmer who wants to learn network programming using .NET technology, this is the book to get.