Java™ How to Program, Seventh Edition

24.5. Establishing a Simple Client Using Stream Sockets

Establishing a simple client in Java requires four steps. In Step 1, we create a Socket to connect to the server. The Socket constructor establishes the connection to the server. For example, the statement

Socket connection = new Socket( serverAddress, port   );

uses the Socket constructor with two arguments—the server’s address (serverAddress) and the port number. If the connection attempt is successful, this statement returns a Socket. A connection attempt that fails throws an instance of a subclass of IOException, so many programs simply catch IOException. An UnknownHostException occurs specifically when the system is unable to resolve the server address specified in the call to the