vercel-labs--zerolang/docs/articles/modules/net.md

When To Use std.net

In Zerolang, use std.net for network capability metadata, local address construction, timeouts, and bootstrap client/listener handles.

Runnable today:

API	Return	Notes
std.net.host()	Net	Creates the hosted network capability.
std.net.address(host, port)	Address	Builds an address value without allocation.
std.net.dnsName(address)	String	Reads the address host name.
std.net.withTimeout(address, duration)	Address	Returns address metadata with a timeout.
std.net.localhost(port)	Address	Builds a localhost address with the requested port.
std.net.loopback(port)	Address	Builds a 127.0.0.1 loopback address with the requested port.
std.net.connect(net, address)	Maybe<Conn>	Returns a bootstrap connection handle when available.
std.net.listen(net, address)	Maybe<Listener>	Returns a bootstrap listener handle when available.

Metadata labels:

• effects: net
• allocation behavior: no allocation
• target support: address helpers are target-neutral; host/connect/listen require a net-capable target
• error behavior: connection helpers return Maybe
• ownership notes: no stream ownership transfer in the current handle model
• example: conformance/native/pass/std-net-http-breadth.graph

Example

pub fn main(world: World) -> Void raises {
    let net: Net = std.net.host()
    let addr: Address = std.net.withTimeout(std.net.localhost(8080_u16), std.time.ms(250))
    let loopback: Address = std.net.loopback(8080_u16)
    let conn: Maybe<Conn> = std.net.connect(net, addr)
    if conn.has && std.mem.eql(std.net.dnsName(addr), "localhost") && std.mem.eql(std.net.dnsName(loopback), "127.0.0.1") {
        check world.out.write("net ok\n")
    }
}

Design Notes

std.net exposes network capability metadata and bootstrap handles. Current fixtures expect connection and listener handles to be absent. It does not provide socket read/write APIs in the current public surface. Outbound HTTP is exposed through std.http.fetch(...) rather than through raw sockets.