Test your knowledge of socket programming in Python

IT professionals who seek to understand how sockets work can follow this advice: Practice a lot, and implement proofs of concept that help one understand sockets at a low level.

Socket programming benefits include real-time connectivity and communications management, and socket programming in Python, in particular, can take IT professionals from a low- to high-level understanding of sockets. While Python is a great tool to help with socket programming, it doesn't provide all the answers to how socket programming works, according to author José Manuel Ortega. That's why practice is still a key factor in understanding sockets and how they work.

IT professionals can get started on practicing socket programming in Python with the below quiz from Ortega's book, Mastering Python for Networking and Security Second Edition. The quiz reviews Chapter 3, "Socket Programming," and these five questions cover basics of the socket module, including port scanning and sending and accepting data requests, as well as how it works with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

At its core, socket programming enables communication between separate systems and can create client-server environments. Its low-level port scanning capabilities can also benefit IT professionals who want to learn more about network security. With socket programming in Python, those fundamental facts remain yet gain the extra support and tools from Python's scripts and libraries.

The first edition of Ortega's book also covered socket programming in Python, but the second edition and its new material -- including Chapter 3 and this quiz -- were updated for Python 3.7+ and reflect those changes. One major change with Python 3.7 that Ortega noted is it offers developers more possibilities for client-server interactions.

Beginners can't develop skills without practice, so dive into the following five questions to test your socket programming expertise.