What Are The Different Types Of Java Networking ?

In Java networking, various methods are used to establish communication between two or more devices across a network. Here are the most common types:

1.Socket Programming (TCP/IP)

Definition:

Socket programming is based on the TCP/IP protocol, which provides reliable, connection-oriented communication between a client and a server. The server listens for incoming connections, and the client initiates the connection.

Example

import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;

public class TCPServer {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            // Create a server socket listening on port 12345
            ServerSocket serverSocket = new ServerSocket(12345);
            System.out.println("Server started, waiting for client connection...");
            
            // Accept client connection
            Socket clientSocket = serverSocket.accept();
            System.out.println("Client connected!");
            
            // Create input and output streams
            BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientSocket.getInputStream()));
            PrintWriter output = new PrintWriter(clientSocket.getOutputStream(), true);
            
            // Read and respond to client messages
            String message = input.readLine();
            System.out.println("Client says: " + message);
            output.println("Server received: " + message);
            
            // Close resources
            clientSocket.close();
            serverSocket.close();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Output:

Server started, waiting for client connection...
Client connected!
Client says: Hello Server!

Advantages:

Provides reliable and ordered communication.
Connection-oriented, meaning that both sides ensure data is received correctly.

Uses:

Web servers and web browsers.
Remote command execution.
File transfer between client and server.

2.Datagram (UDP) Programming

Definition:

Datagram programming uses the UDP (User Datagram Protocol), which is connectionless and does not guarantee the delivery or ordering of packets. It’s faster but less reliable than TCP.

Example:

import java.net.*;

public class UDPServer {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            DatagramSocket socket = new DatagramSocket(12345);
            byte[] receiveData = new byte[1024];
            
            System.out.println("Server listening on port 12345...");
            
            // Receive data from client
            DatagramPacket receivePacket = new DatagramPacket(receiveData, receiveData.length);
            socket.receive(receivePacket);
            
            String message = new String(receivePacket.getData(), 0, receivePacket.getLength());
            System.out.println("Received from client: " + message);
            
            // Send response to client
            String response = "Server received: " + message;
            DatagramPacket sendPacket = new DatagramPacket(response.getBytes(), response.length(), receivePacket.getAddress(), receivePacket.getPort());
            socket.send(sendPacket);
            
            socket.close();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Output:

Server listening on port 12345...
Received from client: Hello Server!

Advantages:

Faster than TCP since it has no overhead for establishing connections.
Suitable for time-sensitive applications.

Uses:

Real-time gaming.
Video streaming.
Voice-over-IP (VoIP).

3.URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

Definition:

A URL is used to identify resources on the internet. The URL class in Java provides methods to fetch data from web resources over HTTP or HTTPS.

Example:

import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;

public class URLExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            // Create URL object for the website
            URL url = new URL("http://www.kaashiv.com");
            
            // Open connection
            HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
            connection.setRequestMethod("GET");
            
            // Read response
            BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(connection.getInputStream()));
            String inputLine;
            StringBuffer response = new StringBuffer();
            while ((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) {
                response.append(inputLine);
            }
            in.close();
            
            // Print the response content
            System.out.println(response.toString());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Output:

The output will be the HTML content of the page at http://www.kaashiv.com.

Advantages:

Easy to interact with web resources.
Can handle different protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP.

Uses:

Web scraping.
Fetching content from APIs.
Downloading files from the internet.

4.Multicast

Definition:

Multicasting allows sending data to multiple recipients simultaneously using the UDP protocol. Java supports multicast communication using the MulticastSocket class.

Example:

import java.net.*;

public class MulticastExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            MulticastSocket socket = new MulticastSocket(12345);
            InetAddress group = InetAddress.getByName("230.0.0.1"); // Multicast address
            socket.joinGroup(group);
            
            // Send message to multicast group
            String message = "Hello, Multicast Group!";
            DatagramPacket packet = new DatagramPacket(message.getBytes(), message.length(), group, 12345);
            socket.send(packet);
            
            // Receive message from multicast group
            byte[] buffer = new byte[256];
            DatagramPacket receivePacket = new DatagramPacket(buffer, buffer.length);
            socket.receive(receivePacket);
            String response = new String(receivePacket.getData(), 0, receivePacket.getLength());
            System.out.println("Received: " + response);
            
            socket.leaveGroup(group);
            socket.close();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Advantages:

Efficient for sending data to multiple recipients without duplication.
Reduces bandwidth usage for large-scale broadcasting.

Uses:

Video conferencing.
Live streaming.
Distributed systems.

5.Remote Method Invocation (RMI)

Definition:

Remote Method Invocation (RMI) enables a Java program to invoke methods of objects residing on different JVMs. It allows distributed applications to communicate and share resources across the network.

Example:

import java.rmi.Naming;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;
import java.rmi.registry.LocateRegistry;
import java.rmi.registry.Registry;

// Create the Server Program
public class RMIServer {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            // Create an instance of the remote object
            CalculatorImpl calc = new CalculatorImpl();
            
            // Create RMI registry if it does not exist
            LocateRegistry.createRegistry(1099);
            
            // Bind the remote object to a name in the RMI registry
            Naming.rebind("CalculatorService", calc);
            
            System.out.println("Server is ready.");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}