VB.NET Multi-Threaded Socket Server with Logging and Error Handling
This project provides a robust and scalable socket server implementation in VB.NET. It leverages multi-threading to handle concurrent client connections, incorporates a simple logging mechanism, and gracefully manages errors.
Multi-Threading: Efficiently handles multiple client connections simultaneously using separate threads, ensuring responsiveness and scalability.
Logging: Logs incoming messages, responses, and errors to the console for monitoring and debugging.
Error Handling: Includes Try...Catch...Finally blocks and a custom ErrorHandler class to gracefully handle socket and I/O exceptions.
Graceful Shutdown: Allows the server to shut down cleanly by waiting for all active client threads to complete.
Prerequisites
.NET Framework: Ensure you have the .NET Framework installed on your system.
IDE (Optional): You can use any VB.NET compatible IDE (like Visual Studio) for development and debugging.
Compilation: Compile the VB.NET code to generate an executable.
Execution: Run the executable. The server will start listening on port 12345 (default).
Client Connection: Use a compatible socket client to connect to 127.0.0.1:12345 (localhost and the specified port).
Interaction: The server will send a "Hello from the server!" message upon a successful connection. It will continue to receive messages from the client and send back responses until it receives the message "quit" (case-insensitive).
Server Termination: Press the "Q" key in the server console window to initiate a graceful shutdown. The server will wait for all active client threads to complete before stopping.
Main Subroutine: The entry point of the server application. Initializes the listener, starts the main loop, and handles shutdown.
ProcessClient Subroutine: Handles individual client connections in separate threads. Receives and sends messages.
ErrorHandler Class: A simple class to log and manage errors.
ILogger Interface and ConsoleLogger Class: Provides a basic logging mechanism with a console implementation.
Advanced Logging: Consider using a dedicated logging framework like log4net or NLog for more flexible and feature-rich logging.
Customizable Error Handling: Implement more sophisticated error handling strategies in the ErrorHandler class (e.g., sending notifications, retrying operations).
Data Serialization: Use a structured data format like JSON for more complex message exchange between the client and server.
Security: If you plan to transmit sensitive data, add encryption to secure the communication channel.
Feel free to fork this repository and contribute enhancements or additional features. Pull requests are welcome!
This code is provided under the MIT License.