getting started to winsock

Hei there, i'm really a newbie to WinSock.. so here, i try to learn by writing and save it to the blog (so I can reach it wherever I am).

This article is taken from here (copy paste -sorry-, but of course with some modifications to simplify the article as I use it for learning)

What is winsock?
1. WinSock is an abbreviation of Windows Socket
2. Its spec defines a network progrmg interface for Ms Windows, based on the "socket" paradigm popularized in BSD Unix.

Winsock 1 apps can ask Winsock to send notifications in window messages. This allows your program to handle both the network, UI issues, and background processing without having to worry about concurrency.

What is the difference between Winsock 1 and Winsock 2?
Winsock 2 adds many features. One of the most important new features is official support for multiple transport protocols. Although Winsock 1.1 was not actually limited to TCP/IP, that was the only protocol that had official support written into the spec. Winsock 2 also adds support for technical initiatives like quality of service (QoS) and multicasting.

How about Winsock 2.x?
Basically it defines two interfaces: API and SPI. Through proper use of the API, a Winsock app can work over various network transport protocols and Winsock implementations.

API
(Application Programming Interface):
shields application developers from underlying layers.

SPI
(Service Provider Interface):
allows transparent extensions to a Winsock stack.