Connecting to a Server

• Connecting to a server is extremely easy with Java's built in socket classes for communicating via HTTP. You will recall from day two how we connected to a web server using the GET and POST methods of HTTP. Well in java, the process is exactly the same Specifically, you create a socket object which connects to a server somewhere on the web using syntax such as the following:

  Socket s = new Socket("url", portNumber);

• Thus, the following code would open a socket to www.extropia.com on port 80:

  Socket s = new Socket("www.extropia.com", 80);

• So what happens if your application cannot reach the server specified? Well, it is essential that you place your networking within a try block which catches several errors such as UnknownHostException, MalformedURLException, and IOException.

Additional Resources:

• Learning to Write Java
• Introducing Java (TM) - Your First Applet
• Java FAQs
• Java Software
• java.sun.com
• Sun Microsystems

Network Programming in Java
Table of Contents
Getting Information from a Remote Site