What is the difference between a file and a socket?

While file or a “regular file” as it is referred to has a obvious use case to store data, socket is a special file which allows communication between two processes either on same machine or between two different machines.

What is the difference between an open file and a socket in python?

When you open a file, you get a read and write handle to allow simultaneous operations. A program can rewind a socket and start writing again at the beginning of the socket. A program writes to a socket, it can read its data back after closing the socket. A socket can be simultaneously read and written.

Is a socket a file?

Socket. A socket is a special file used for inter-process communication, which enables communication between two processes. In addition to sending data, processes can send file descriptors across a Unix domain socket connection using the sendmsg() and recvmsg() system calls.

What is an open socket?

To put things simply, a Socket that is open is a socket that is either waiting for connection or has successfully connected with another Socket . When a socket has been closed, it means that this socket is no longer available for connection, and that it’s resources has already been released.

What are open file descriptors?

A file descriptor is a number that uniquely identifies an open file in a computer’s operating system. It describes a data resource, and how that resource may be accessed. When a program asks to open a file — or another data resource, like a network socket — the kernel: Grants access.

What must happen before a client can open a socket?

The client must create a local file with the same name as the socket. The client must be in the same folder as the server. The server must allocate sufficient memory to handle any needed retransmissions. A server must be running that is listening for socket connections.

What is a socket in python?

Socket programming is a way of connecting two nodes on a network to communicate with each other. One socket(node) listens on a particular port at an IP, while the other socket reaches out to the other to form a connection. The server forms the listener socket while the client reaches out to the server.

Where are socket files stored?

The default location for the Unix socket file that the server uses for communication with local clients is /tmp/mysql. sock . (For some distribution formats, the directory might be different, such as /var/lib/mysql for RPMs.)