Socket Protocol Fundamentals

Question

Recently, while reading a Socket Programming HOWTO the following section jumped out at me:

But if you plan to reuse your socket for further transfers,

Answer 1

The common protocols either specify length in the header, or are delimited (like HTTP, for instance).

Keep in mind that this also depends on whether you use TCP or UDP sockets. Since TCP sockets are reliable you can be sure that you get everything you shoved into them. With UDP the story is different and more complex.