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can someone tell me 'what is socket programming'

socket programming is about handling network connections via socket api - so to say, establishing tcp connections/listening to a socket (for servers), sending/receiving data from a connection (tcp) or from a port (udp - which is stateless)

this is the user level side of sockets. the kernel server side is: the socket layer is what is the file abstraction for handling file system calls (open, close, read, write). It hides away all the crucial secrets from the user: the tcp/ip stack, which basically is a set of functions which can either act independently or chained together in an up-down/down-up approach.

Thats only a rough explanation which may include errors and mistakes. C&CW

stay safe

The ruling tutorial about socket programming is "Beej Network Programming"