Page 1 of 11

Home Whiteboard Online Compilers Practice Articles Tools

Chapters Categories

Java - Networking

Java Networking
Java networking (or, Java network programming) refers to writing programs that
execute across multiple devices (computers), in which the devices are all connected to
each other using a network.

Advertisement

Advantages of Java Networking

Creating server-client applications

Implementing networking protocols

Implement socket programming

Creating web services

Package Used in Networking

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 1/11

 Page 2 of 11

The [Link] package of the J2SE APIs contains a collection of classes and interfaces that
provide the low-level communication details, allowing you to write programs that focus on
solving the problem at hand.

The [Link] package provides support for the two common network protocols −

TCP − TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol, which allows for reliable
communication between two applications. TCP is typically used over the Internet
Protocol, which is referred to as TCP/IP.

UDP − UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol, a connection-less protocol that
allows for packets of data to be transmitted between applications.

This chapter gives a good understanding on the following two subjects −

Socket Programming − This is the most widely used concept in Networking and it
has been explained in very detail.
URL Processing − This would be covered separately. Click here to learn about
URL Processing in Java language.

Socket Programming in Java Networking

Sockets provide the communication mechanism between two computers using TCP. A
client program creates a socket on its end of the communication and attempts to connect
that socket to a server.

When the connection is made, the server creates a socket object on its end of the
communication. The client and the server can now communicate by writing to and reading
from the socket.

The [Link] class represents a socket, and the [Link] class

provides a mechanism for the server program to listen for clients and establish
connections with them.

The following steps occur when establishing a TCP connection between two computers
using sockets −

The server instantiates a ServerSocket object, denoting which port number

communication is to occur on.

The server invokes the accept() method of the ServerSocket class. This method
waits until a client connects to the server on the given port.

After the server is waiting, a client instantiates a Socket object, specifying the
server name and the port number to connect to.

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 2/11

 Page 3 of 11

The constructor of the Socket class attempts to connect the client to the specified
server and the port number. If communication is established, the client now has a
Socket object capable of communicating with the server.

On the server side, the accept() method returns a reference to a new socket on
the server that is connected to the client's socket.

After the connections are established, communication can occur using I/O streams. Each
socket has both an OutputStream and an InputStream. The client's OutputStream is
connected to the server's InputStream, and the client's InputStream is connected to the
server's OutputStream.

TCP is a two-way communication protocol, hence data can be sent across both streams
at the same time. Following are the useful classes providing complete set of methods to
implement sockets.

ServerSocket Class Constructors

The [Link] class is used by server applications to obtain a port and listen
for client requests.

The ServerSocket class has four constructors −

[Link]. Method & Description

public ServerSocket(int port) throws IOException

1 Attempts to create a server socket bound to the specified port. An exception
occurs if the port is already bound by another application.

public ServerSocket(int port, int backlog) throws IOException

2 Similar to the previous constructor, the backlog parameter specifies how many
incoming clients to store in a wait queue.

public ServerSocket(int port, int backlog, InetAddress address) throws

IOException
Similar to the previous constructor, the InetAddress parameter specifies the
3
local IP address to bind to. The InetAddress is used for servers that may have
multiple IP addresses, allowing the server to specify which of its IP addresses to
accept client requests on.

public ServerSocket() throws IOException

4 Creates an unbound server socket. When using this constructor, use the bind()
method when you are ready to bind the server socket.

If the ServerSocket constructor does not throw an exception, it means that your
application has successfully bound to the specified port and is ready for client requests.

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 3/11

 Page 4 of 11

ServerSocket Class Methods

Following are some of the common methods of the ServerSocket class −

[Link]. Method & Description

public int getLocalPort()

Returns the port that the server socket is listening on. This method is useful if
1
you passed in 0 as the port number in a constructor and let the server find a
port for you.

public Socket accept() throws IOException

Waits for an incoming client. This method blocks until either a client connects to
2 the server on the specified port or the socket times out, assuming that the
time-out value has been set using the setSoTimeout() method. Otherwise, this
method blocks indefinitely.

public void setSoTimeout(int timeout)

3 Sets the time-out value for how long the server socket waits for a client during
the accept().

public void bind(SocketAddress host, int backlog)

Binds the socket to the specified server and port in the SocketAddress object.
4
Use this method if you have instantiated the ServerSocket using the no-
argument constructor.

When the ServerSocket invokes accept(), the method does not return until a client
connects. After a client does connect, the ServerSocket creates a new Socket on an
unspecified port and returns a reference to this new Socket. A TCP connection now exists
between the client and the server, and communication can begin.

Socket Class Constructors

The [Link] class represents the socket that both the client and the server use
to communicate with each other. The client obtains a Socket object by instantiating one,
whereas the server obtains a Socket object from the return value of the accept() method.

The Socket class has five constructors that a client uses to connect to a server −

[Link]. Method & Description

public Socket(String host, int port) throws UnknownHostException,

IOException.
1 This method attempts to connect to the specified server at the specified port.
If this constructor does not throw an exception, the connection is successful
and the client is connected to the server.

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 4/11

 Page 5 of 11

public Socket(InetAddress host, int port) throws IOException

2 This method is identical to the previous constructor, except that the host is
denoted by an InetAddress object.

public Socket(String host, int port, InetAddress localAddress, int

localPort) throws IOException.
3
Connects to the specified host and port, creating a socket on the local host at
the specified address and port.

public Socket(InetAddress host, int port, InetAddress localAddress, int

localPort) throws IOException.
4
This method is identical to the previous constructor, except that the host is
denoted by an InetAddress object instead of a String.

public Socket()
5 Creates an unconnected socket. Use the connect() method to connect this
socket to a server.

When the Socket constructor returns, it does not simply instantiate a Socket object but it
actually attempts to connect to the specified server and port.

Socket Class Methods

Some methods of interest in the Socket class are listed here. Notice that both the client
and the server have a Socket object, so these methods can be invoked by both the client
and the server.

[Link]. Method & Description

public void connect(SocketAddress host, int timeout) throws

IOException
1
This method connects the socket to the specified host. This method is needed
only when you instantiate the Socket using the no-argument constructor.

public InetAddress getInetAddress()

2 This method returns the address of the other computer that this socket is
connected to.

public int getPort()

3
Returns the port the socket is bound to on the remote machine.

public int getLocalPort()

4
Returns the port the socket is bound to on the local machine.

public SocketAddress getRemoteSocketAddress()

5
Returns the address of the remote socket.

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 5/11

 Page 6 of 11

public InputStream getInputStream() throws IOException

6 Returns the input stream of the socket. The input stream is connected to the
output stream of the remote socket.

public OutputStream getOutputStream() throws IOException

7 Returns the output stream of the socket. The output stream is connected to
the input stream of the remote socket.

public void close() throws IOException

8 Closes the socket, which makes this Socket object no longer capable of
connecting again to any server.

InetAddress Class Methods

This class represents an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Here are following usefull methods
which you would need while doing socket programming −

[Link]. Method & Description

static InetAddress getByAddress(byte[] addr)

1
Returns an InetAddress object given the raw IP address.

static InetAddress getByAddress(String host, byte[] addr)

2
Creates an InetAddress based on the provided host name and IP address.

static InetAddress getByName(String host)

3
Determines the IP address of a host, given the host's name.

String getHostAddress()
4
Returns the IP address string in textual presentation.

String getHostName()
5
Gets the host name for this IP address.

static InetAddress InetAddress getLocalHost()

6
Returns the local host.

String toString()
7
Converts this IP address to a String.

Example of Java Networking

Implementing Socket Client in Java

The following GreetingClient is a client program that connects to a server by using a socket
and sends a greeting, and then waits for a response.

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 6/11

 Page 7 of 11

Example: Socket Client

// File Name [Link]

import [Link].*;
import [Link].*;

public class GreetingClient {

public static void main(String [] args) {

String serverName = args[0];
int port = [Link](args[1]);
try {
[Link]("Connecting to " + serverName + " on port " + port);
Socket client = new Socket(serverName, port);

[Link]("Just connected to " +

[Link]());
OutputStream outToServer = [Link]();
DataOutputStream out = new DataOutputStream(outToServer);

[Link]("Hello from " + [Link]());

InputStream inFromServer = [Link]();
DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(inFromServer);

[Link]("Server says " + [Link]());

[Link]();
} catch (IOException e) {
[Link]();
}
}
}

Implementing Socket Server in Java

The following GreetingServer program is an example of a server application that uses the
Socket class to listen for clients on a port number specified by a command-line argument
−

Example: Socket Server

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 7/11

 Page 8 of 11

// File Name [Link]

import [Link].*;
import [Link].*;

public class GreetingServer extends Thread {

private ServerSocket serverSocket;

public GreetingServer(int port) throws IOException {

serverSocket = new ServerSocket(port);
[Link](10000);
}

public void run() {

while(true) {
try {
[Link]("Waiting for client on port " +
[Link]() + "...");
Socket server = [Link]();

[Link]("Just connected to " +

[Link]());
DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream([Link]());

[Link]([Link]());
DataOutputStream out = new
DataOutputStream([Link]());
[Link]("Thank you for connecting to " +
[Link]()
+ "\nGoodbye!");
[Link]();

} catch (SocketTimeoutException s) {
[Link]("Socket timed out!");
break;
} catch (IOException e) {
[Link]();
break;
}
}
}

public static void main(String [] args) {

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 8/11

 Page 9 of 11

int port = [Link](args[0]);

try {
Thread t = new GreetingServer(port);
[Link]();
} catch (IOException e) {
[Link]();
}
}
}

Compile the client and the server and then start the server as follows −

$ java GreetingServer 6066

Waiting for client on port 6066...

Check the client program as follows −

Output

$ java GreetingClient localhost 6066

Connecting to localhost on port 6066
Just connected to localhost/[Link]:6066
Server says Thank you for connecting to /[Link]:6066
Goodbye!

TOP TUTORIALS

Python Tutorial

Java Tutorial
C++ Tutorial
C Programming Tutorial

C# Tutorial
PHP Tutorial
R Tutorial

HTML Tutorial
CSS Tutorial
JavaScript Tutorial

SQL Tutorial

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 9/11

 Page 10 of 11

TRENDING TECHNOLOGIES

Cloud Computing Tutorial

Amazon Web Services Tutorial

Microsoft Azure Tutorial
Git Tutorial

Ethical Hacking Tutorial

Docker Tutorial
Kubernetes Tutorial

DSA Tutorial
Spring Boot Tutorial
SDLC Tutorial

Unix Tutorial

CERTIFICATIONS

Business Analytics Certification

Java & Spring Boot Advanced Certification
Data Science Advanced Certification

Cloud Computing And DevOps

Advanced Certification In Business Analytics
Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning

DevOps Certification
Game Development Certification
Front-End Developer Certification

AWS Certification Training

Python Programming Certification

COMPILERS & EDITORS

Online Java Compiler

Online Python Compiler

Online Go Compiler
Online C Compiler
Online C++ Compiler

Online C# Compiler
Online PHP Compiler
Online MATLAB Compiler

Online Bash Terminal

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 10/11

 Page 11 of 11

Online SQL Compiler

Online Html Editor

ABOUT US | OUR TEAM | CAREERS | JOBS | CONTACT US | TERMS OF USE |

PRIVACY POLICY | REFUND POLICY | COOKIES POLICY | FAQ'S

Tutorials Point is a leading Ed Tech company striving to provide the best learning material on
technical and non-technical subjects.

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved.

[Link] w w .[Link]/java/java_netw [Link] 11/11