SocketsHttpHandler

SocketsHttpHandler is a class in the .NET Framework that provides an implementation of the `HttpClientHandler`. It is the default handler used by `HttpClient` in modern .NET versions (.NET Core 2.1 and later, and .NET 5 and later). SocketsHttpHandler is designed to be highly performant and efficient, leveraging the operating system's socket infrastructure directly for network communication.

This handler supports a wide range of HTTP features, including connection pooling, keep-alive, HTTP/2, and proxy support. It also handles aspects like SSL/TLS certificate validation and cookie management. Developers can configure various aspects of the handler, such as timeouts, maximum connections per server, and the use of system proxies.

The primary advantage of SocketsHttpHandler is its performance. By directly interacting with the socket layer, it can reduce overhead compared to older handlers. It's also cross-platform, ensuring consistent behavior across different operating systems. For most common HTTP client scenarios, SocketsHttpHandler provides a robust and efficient solution without requiring explicit configuration. Developers typically interact with it through the `HttpClient` class, which uses it by default. Customization is achieved by creating an instance of `SocketsHttpHandler` and passing it to the `HttpClient` constructor.