differences between "struct sock" and "struct socket"

ahm_irf · 03-29-2009, 11:25 PM

can anyone tell me some differences between "struct sock" and "struct socket" that are data structures of network protocol stack ?

till now I just find out that 'struct sock' provides the interface downward to the kernel and 'struct socket' provides interface upward to userspace.

Please correct me if I am wrong and also provide more differences.

paulsm4 · 03-29-2009, 11:28 PM

Q: Exactly what header file(s) are you looking at?

ahm_irf · 03-30-2009, 01:09 AM

include/net/sock.h

include/net/socket.h

wje_lq · 03-30-2009, 04:43 AM

I'm on Slackware 12.1, and it has neither /usr/include/net/sock.h nor /usr/include/net/socket.h.

What system are you using?

paulsm4 · 03-30-2009, 10:29 AM

Hi -

"/usr/include/sys/socket.h" is an appropriate header to use for a user-space sockets program. Here's a good example:

http://beej.us/guide/bgnet/output/ht...l#simpleclient

"/usr/src/linux/include/net/sock.h" is a kernel header for the kernel implementation of TCP/IP.

You can (and should) view the two definitions as completely separate and unrelated.