WSOCK32.DLL or WS2_32.DLL

[Robert Collins]

Does it make any difference which DLL I use?

Are they interchangable?

Are they the same?

[James Ladd]

The are the same in that they both enable socket communications.
They are not the same in that they support different versions of the winsock specification and as such the newer one (WS2_32.dll) contains newer api's.
WS2_32.dll is the Winsock 32 Version 2 specification dll.
Use it where possible.

[Robert Collins]

OK, thanks. That's what I wanted to know because I was using WSOCK32.DLL and then one day I saw WS2_32.DLL in the system library and wondered about it. I did a properties on both and the issue dates are the same. In fact it appears that everything in the properties are the same so I just wasnt sure.