Ports vs Sockets vs URLs

Summary by ChatGPT

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of sockets vs ports vs URLs, written in a way that fits networking fundamentals:

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🔌 Sockets vs Ports vs URLs — Comparison Table

Concept	What It Is	Example	Purpose / When It’s Used
Port	A number on a device used to identify a specific network service or application.	80 (HTTP), 22 (SSH), 443 (HTTPS)	Allows multiple network services to run on one IP address. Helps the OS route incoming traffic to the correct program.
Socket	A combination of IP address + port (and optionally protocol like TCP/UDP). A socket represents one endpoint in a network connection.	192.168.1.10:5000	Identifies a specific communication channel. The server listens on a socket; the client connects to it.
URL	A human-readable resource locator used on the web. Includes protocol, domain, path, port (optional), etc.	https://example.com:8080/index.html	Lets users find resources on the web. Maps domain names to IPs and optionally specifies ports and paths.

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🔍 Expanded Explanation

Port

• Logical number from 0–65535.
• Every networked service “listens” on a port.
• Example: A web server uses port 80 for HTTP or 443 for HTTPS.

Socket

• Identifies a specific network connection endpoint.

• Consists of:

  • IP address
  • Port number
  • Protocol (TCP or UDP)

• Example:

  • Server socket: 192.168.0.12:5000
  • Client socket: 10.0.0.5:50544

URL

• A complete identifier for web resources.

• Includes:

  • Protocol: http, https, ftp, etc.
  • Domain or IP
  • Optional port
  • Path, query parameters, etc.

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🎯 How They Relate

• A URL may include a port → https://example.com:8443/
• DNS resolves the URL’s hostname → IP address
• The browser then connects to that IP + port → forming a socket
• The socket becomes the communication pathway.

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Additional Resources

• Understanding Sockets - What is a Stream Socket? - DigitalOcean