In computer networking, a stream socket is a type of internet socket

Internet socket

In computer networking, an Internet socket or network socket is an endpoint of a bidirectional inter-process communication flow across an Internet Protocol-based computer network, such as the Internet....

 which provides a connection-oriented

Connection-oriented

Connection-oriented communication is a data communication mode in telecommunications whereby the devices at the end points use a protocol to establish an end-to-end logical or physical connection before any data may be sent. In case of digital transmission, in-order delivery of a bit stream or...

, sequenced, and unduplicated flow of data

Data

The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...

 without record boundaries, with well-defined mechanisms for creating and destroying connections and for detecting errors.

This internet socket

Internet socket

In computer networking, an Internet socket or network socket is an endpoint of a bidirectional inter-process communication flow across an Internet Protocol-based computer network, such as the Internet....

 type transmits data on a reliable

Reliability (computer networking)

In computer networking, a reliable protocol is one that provides reliability properties with respect to the delivery of data to the intended recipient, as opposed to an unreliable protocol, which does not provide notifications to the sender as to the delivery of transmitted data.A reliable...

 basis, in order, and with out-of-band

Out-of-band

The term out-of-band has different uses in communications and telecommunication. In case of out-of-band control signaling, signaling bits are sent in special order in a dedicated signaling frame...

 capabilities.

Traditionally, stream sockets are implemented on top of TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

The Transmission Control Protocol is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. TCP is one of the two original components of the suite, complementing the Internet Protocol , and therefore the entire suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP...

 so that applications can run across any networks using TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

The Transmission Control Protocol is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. TCP is one of the two original components of the suite, complementing the Internet Protocol , and therefore the entire suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP...

/IP

Internet Protocol

The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...

 protocol

Communications protocol

A communications protocol is a system of digital message formats and rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems and in telecommunications...

. SCTP can also be used for stream sockets.

See also

• Datagram socket
  Datagram socket
  A datagram socket is a type of connectionless Internet socket, which is the sending or receiving point for packet delivery services. Each packet sent or received on a datagram socket is individually addressed and routed...
  
  
• XMLSocket
  XMLSocket
  XMLSocket is a class in ActionScript which allows Adobe Flash content to use socket communication, via TCP stream sockets. It can be used for plain text, although, as the name implies, it was made for XML...
  
  , which allows ActionScript
  ActionScript
  ActionScript is an object-oriented language originally developed by Macromedia Inc. . It is a dialect of ECMAScript , and is used primarily for the development of websites and software targeting the Adobe Flash Player platform, used on Web pages in the form of...
  
  to communicate via stream sockets.