Network Namespaces in Visual Studio
The network namespaces in the .NET Framework include:
System.Net - contains classes that provides a simple programming interface to many of the protocols found on the network today. The WebRequest and WebResponse classes form the basis of "pluggable protocols," an implementation of network services that enables you to develop applications that use Internet resources without worrying about the specific details of the protocol used.
System.Net.Cache - defines the types and enumerations used to define cache policies for resources obtained using the WebRequest and HttpWebRequest classes.
System.Net.Configuration - classes that applications use to programmatically access and update configuration settings for the System.Net namespaces.
System.Net.Mail - classes used to send electronic mail to a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server for delivery.
System.Net.Mime - holds types that are used to represent Multipurpose Internet Mail Exchange (MIME) headers. These types are used with the types in the System.Net.Mail namespace to specify Content-Type, Content-Disposition and Content-transfer-Encoding headers when using the SmtpClient class to send e-mail.
System.Net.NetworkInformation - provides access to network traffic data, network address information, and notification of address changes for the local computer. The namespace also contains classes that implement the Ping utility. You can use Ping and related classes to check whether a computer is reachable across the network.
System.Net.Sockets - provides a managed implementation of the Windows Sockets (Winsock) interface for developers who need to tightly control access to the network.
Related Sections
Controls and Programmable Objects Compared in Different Languages and Libraries
Mentions classes in the System.Net namespace that replace Internet controls in earlier versions of Visual Basic.Introduction to the .NET Framework Class Library in Visual Studio
Provides an overview of the namespaces in the .NET Framework.Network Programming
Links to a variety of topics on network programming.Best Practices for System.Net Classes
Provides recommendations for using the classes in System.Net.