# socketserver --- A framework for network servers

> synopsis: A framework for network servers. Source code: Lib/socketserver.py The !socketserver module simplifies the task of writing network servers. There are four basic concrete server classes This uses the internet TCP protocol, which provides for continuous streams of data between the client and

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- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.537230+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `python`, `library`, `socketserver`, `framework`, `network`, `servers`

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synopsis: A framework for network servers.

Source code: Lib/socketserver.py

The !socketserver module simplifies the task of writing network servers.

There are four basic concrete server classes

This uses the internet TCP protocol, which provides for continuous streams of data between the client and server. If bind_and_activate is true, the constructor automatically attempts to invoke ~BaseServer.server_bind and ~BaseServer.server_activate. The other parameters are passed to the BaseServer base class.

This uses datagrams, which are discrete packets of information that may arrive out of order or be lost while in transit. The parameters are the same as for TCPServer.

These more infrequently used classes are similar to the TCP and UDP classes, but use Unix domain sockets; they're not available on non-Unix platforms. The parameters are the same as for TCPServer.

These four classes process requests synchronously; each request must be completed before the next request can be started. This isn't suitable if each request takes a long time to complete, because it requires a lot of computation, or because it returns a lot of data which the client is slow to process. The solution is to create a separate process or thread to handle each request; the ForkingMixIn and ThreadingMixIn mix-in classes can be used to support asynchronous behaviour.

Creating a server requires several steps. First, you must create a request handler class by subclassing the BaseRequestHandler class and overriding its ~BaseRequestHandler.handle method; this method will process incoming requests. Second, you must instantiate one of the server classes, passing it the server's address and the request handler class. It is recommended to use the server in a with statement. Then call the ~BaseServer.handle_request or ~BaseServer.serve_forever method of the server object to process one or many requests. Finally, call ~BaseServer.server_close to close the socket (unless you used a !with statement). …

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