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Windows provides networking APIs for common scenarios such as making HTTP requests, working with WebSockets for real-time communication, and using TCP/UDP sockets for custom protocols. The primary APIs are in the Windows.Networking.Sockets and Windows.Web.Http namespaces — these are Windows Runtime (WinRT) APIs that work in both UWP and WinUI 3 (Windows App SDK) desktop apps. WinUI 3 apps targeting .NET can also use System.Net.Http.HttpClient for HTTP requests.
The following networking and web services technologies are available for Windows developers.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Networking basics | Things you must do for any network-enabled app. |
| Which networking technology? | An overview of the networking technologies available for a Windows developer, with suggestions on how to choose the technologies that are right for your app. |
| Network communications in the background | To continue network communication while your app runs in the background, use background tasks and either socket broker or control channel triggers. |
| Sockets | Sockets are a low-level data transfer technology on top of which many networking protocols are implemented. Windows offers TCP and UDP socket classes for client-server or peer-to-peer applications, whether connections are long-lived or an established connection is not required. |
| WebSockets | WebSockets provide a mechanism for fast, secure, two-way communication between a client and a server over the web using HTTP(S), and supporting both UTF-8 and binary messages. |
| HttpClient | Use Windows.Web.Http namespace API to send and receive information using the HTTP 2.0 and HTTP 1.1 protocols. |
| RSS/Atom feeds | Retrieve or create the most current and popular Web content using syndicated feeds generated according to the RSS and Atom standards using features in the Windows.Web.Syndication namespace. |
| Background transfers | Use the background transfer API to copy files reliably over the network. |
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Windows developer