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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-20T23:48:19+00:00

I’m writing some Perl code. I want it to run on Windows and Linux/UNIX/OSX.

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I’m writing some Perl code. I want it to run on Windows and Linux/UNIX/OSX. So far it works on *NIX and uses fifos.

I am considering switching to sockets to avoid the problem that POSIX::mkfifo() doesn’t work on Windows, so I need to write some separate code to use Win32::Pipe.

I’m feeling ambivalent about the whole thing. It seems to me both fixes require about the same amount of work. Is it a good idea to switch to sockets?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Short answer: IO::Socket::INET works on both Windows and *NIX.

    Named Pipes

    • Slightly easier to code up quickly. You don’t need write connect code.
    • Slightly faster. Sockets have the overhead of TCP and setting up the initial connection.
    • Works on all platforms.
    • Works even when network card doesn’t exist. Some laptops shut down the network card to save power which can prevent even local sockets from working.

    Sockets

    • Works on all platforms. However, some laptops shut down the network card to save power and even local sockets won’t work if there is no network interface.
    • More portable in Perl. IO::Socket::INET works on both *NIX and Windows.
    • Allows you to have a separate conversation with each client.
    • Firewalls are not a problem. Ports over 1024 should work.

    Personally, I’ve decided to switch to sockets. In my application it doesn’t matter much. But I think it makes the code a bit simpler, gives me the flexibility to move to > 1 client in the future, and I want to learn IO::Socket anyway.

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