SDLnet

SDL_net is a small cross-platform networking library designed to complement the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL). It provides a lightweight API for network communication using TCP and UDP, built on top of the system’s sockets interface (BSD sockets on Unix-like systems and Winsock on Windows). The library aims to offer a simple, consistent interface for SDL-based applications needing basic network functionality.

The API defines socket types such as TCPsocket and UDPsocket, as well as IPaddress and UDPpacket, and a socket-set type called SDLNet_SocketSet for monitoring multiple sockets. It exposes initialization and cleanup routines and a set of functions to resolve hostnames, open TCP connections, send and receive data, allocate and manage UDP packets, and transmit datagrams. While it does not provide a full high-level networking stack, it covers common needs for simple multiplayer games and tools.

Development and licensing: SDL_net was developed by Sam Lantinga as part of the SDL ecosystem. The library is distributed under the zlib license, the same permissive terms used by the SDL project. It is designed to be portable across major platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Usage and status: SDL_net has been widely used in SDL-based projects to add basic networking support. While not a high-performance or feature-rich network library, its straightforward API remains useful for simple TCP/UDP communication in small to medium projects.