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Where does one get the "sys/socket.h" header/source file?

Asked 2011-01-09T10:01:10.987
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I've been trying to write a server in C++ Unix style, but I'm stuck on a Windows machine. I started with MinGW, but it didn't compile right and told me that it couldn't find the "sys/socket.h" file. Which, of course, is necessary for the server to even work. I went searching for it, and I think somewhere said to install Cygwin instead, as it comes with lots of libraries. Okay, so I installed it. Every single library it could possibly offer me. Then I went to compile again, and it STILL can't find it. I went searching through the ENTIRE includes folder, and couldn't find the file. So I was a little miffed (3 hours down the drain for extra functionality I don't need), but I continued to search. I can't find it ANYWHERE. I find multiple references to using it, but I can't find ANYWHERE to download it. I've been searching for the past few hours now, and I've become very frustrated with everything because there are NO references to where I can get it (and I will NOT use winsock. That breaks compatibility if I remember right).

So, long story short, where can I download the 'socket.h'/'socket.c'/'socket.cpp' files? It would make my life (and I'm sure many others' lives) SO much easier, and I would really appreciate it!

c++ sockets unix
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Since you've labeled the question C++, you might be interested in using boost::asio, ACE, or some other cross-platform socket library for C++ or for C. Some other cross-platform libraries may be found in the answers to C++ sockets library for cross-platform and Cross platform Networking API.

Assuming that using a third party cross-platform sockets library is not an option for you...

The header <sys/socket.h> is defined in IEEE Std. 1003.1 (POSIX), but sadly Windows is non-compliant with the POSIX standard. The MinGW compiler is a port of GCC for compiling Windows applications, and therefore does not include these POSIX system headers. If you install GCC using Cygwin, then it will include these system headers to emulate a POSIX environment on Windows. Be aware, however, that if you use Cygwin for sockets that a.) you will need to put the cygwin DLL in a place where your application can read it and b.) Cygwin headers and Windows headers don't interact very well (so if you plan on including windows.h, then you probably don't want to be including sys/socket.h).

My personal recommendation would be to download a copy of VirtualBox, download a copy of Ubuntu, install Ubuntu into VirtualBox, and then do your coding and testing on Ubuntu. Alternatively, I am told that Micro

answered 2011-01-09T21:26:34.893

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