Simplified support for the development of network software is one of Java's strengths. That support manifests itself through Java's Network API, a collection of classes and interfaces located in packages java.net and javax.net. While writing my book Java 2 by Example, Second Edition (Que, 2000), I intended to include a chapter on the Network API. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and that chapter did not make it into my book. Because the thought of not including a chapter on the Network API bothered me, I decided to create a trilogy of articles that explores that API. The article that you are currently reading and its companion articles form that trilogy and serve as my book's final chapter.