A Windows implementation of the widely used University of California-Berkeley Sockets API. Winsock is a networking API used to create TCP/IP-based sockets applications. Winsock provides interfaces between applications and the transport protocol, and works as a bidirectional connection for incoming and outgoing data.
Windows Sockets is a Windows implementation of the widely used UC Berkeley Sockets API. The Windows Sockets API is a networking API used by programmers to create TCP/IP–based sockets applications. Microsoft TCP/IP, NWLink, and AppleTalk® protocols use this interface. Windows Sockets provides interfaces between programs and the transport protocol and works as a bidirectional pipe for incoming and outgoing data. Also called WinSock API. See also application programming interface.
A standard specification for designing interprocess communications between computers running applications that utilize TCP/IP networking. See also socket.
Windows Sockets is a standard way for Windows-based programs to work with TCP/IP. You can use Windows Sockets if you use SLIP to connect to the Internet.
Also Winsock. Winsock provides a single interface in Microsoft Windows to which multiple network software programs conform. A Winsock will typically be available in a dynamic link library named winsock.dll. This communicates on one side with network programs and on the other side with the TCP/IP protocol to facilitate Internet communications.
An industry-standard application programming interface (API) used on the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a two-way, reliable, sequenced, and unduplicated flow of data.
An IPC mechanism based on the WinSock specification and compatible with the Berkeley Sockets IPC under Unix. The WinSock specification allows hardware and software vendors to design systems and applications that can access virtually any type of underlying network, including TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, OSI, ATM networks, wireless networks, and telephony networks.
An API designed to help inconsistent TCP/IP stacks talk together and be accessed properly by Windows 3.x programs.