Exploring Ruby’s Networking Capabilities: From Basics to Advanced Implementations

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Davide Santangelo

Ruby, known for its elegant syntax and developer-friendly ecosystem, offers robust tools for networking tasks. Whether you're building web clients, servers, or handling low-level socket communications, Ruby provides built-in modules and libraries that make networking straightforward and powerful. This comprehensive guide explores Ruby's networking capabilities, from basic socket operations to HTTP requests, with practical examples to get you started.

Introduction to Networking in Ruby
Understanding Ruby's Net Module
Low-Level Networking: Socket Programming
High-Level Networking: Using Net::HTTP
Advanced Networking Libraries and Gems
Best Practices and Security
Real-World Applications
Conclusion

Introduction to Networking in Ruby {#introduction}

Networking in Ruby revolves around sending and receiving data over networks using protocols like TCP, UDP, and HTTP. Ruby's standard library includes the Net module, which provides high-level abstractions for common networking tasks, particularly HTTP interactions. For more specialized needs, Ruby also supports lower-level socket programming.

Why Choose Ruby for Networking?

Ruby offers several advantages for networking applications:

Rich ecosystem: Extensive collection of gems for specialized networking tasks
Built-in tools: No external dependencies required for basic HTTP operations
Elegant syntax: Clean, readable code that's easy to maintain
Cross-platform: Works consistently across different operating systems
Active community: Well-documented libraries and community support

Understanding Ruby's Net Module {#net-module}

The Net module serves as a namespace for networking-related classes in Ruby's standard library. It's designed primarily for client-server interactions, with HTTP being the primary focus.

Core Components

Net::HTTP

The flagship class for handling HTTP requests and responses. It provides methods for all standard HTTP operations (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.) and is RFC 2616 compliant.

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

# Basic usage
uri = URI('https://httpbin.org/get')
response = Net::HTTP.get_response(uri)
puts response.code  # => "200"
puts response.body  # => JSON response

Net::HTTPHeader

Manages HTTP headers, allowing you to set and retrieve header information:

require 'net/http'

http = Net::HTTP.new('httpbin.org', 443)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new('/headers')
request['User-Agent'] = 'Ruby HTTP Client'
request['Accept'] = 'application/json'

response = http.request(request)
puts response.body

Error Handling

The Net module provides comprehensive error handling for network operations:

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

begin
  uri = URI('https://httpbin.org/delay/10')
  http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
  http.use_ssl = true
  http.read_timeout = 5  # 5 seconds timeout

  response = http.get(uri.path)
  puts response.body
rescue Net::ReadTimeout => e
  puts "Request timed out: #{e.message}"
rescue Net::HTTPError => e
  puts "HTTP error: #{e.message}"
rescue StandardError => e
  puts "Unexpected error: #{e.message}"
end

Low-Level Networking: Socket Programming {#socket-programming}

For scenarios requiring fine-grained control, Ruby's Socket class provides direct access to network sockets, supporting both TCP and UDP protocols.

TCP Server Example

Here's a robust TCP server that handles multiple clients:

require 'socket'

class EchoServer
  def initialize(host = 'localhost', port = 8080)
    @host = host
    @port = port
    @server = nil
  end

  def start
    @server = TCPServer.new(@host, @port)
    puts "Server listening on #{@host}:#{@port}"

    loop do
      Thread.start(@server.accept) do |client|
        handle_client(client)
      end
    end
  rescue Interrupt
    puts "\nShutting down server..."
    @server&.close
  end

  private

  def handle_client(client)
    client_info = client.peeraddr
    puts "Client connected: #{client_info[2]}:#{client_info[1]}"

    loop do
      data = client.gets
      break if data.nil? || data.strip.downcase == 'quit'

      client.puts "Echo: #{data}"
    end

    client.close
    puts "Client disconnected: #{client_info[2]}:#{client_info[1]}"
  rescue StandardError => e
    puts "Error handling client: #{e.message}"
    client.close
  end
end

# Usage
server = EchoServer.new
server.start

TCP Client Example

A corresponding client to interact with the server:

require 'socket'

class EchoClient
  def initialize(host = 'localhost', port = 8080)
    @host = host
    @port = port
  end

  def connect
    @socket = TCPSocket.new(@host, @port)
    puts "Connected to #{@host}:#{@port}"

    loop do
      print "Enter message (or 'quit' to exit): "
      message = gets.chomp

      @socket.puts message
      break if message.downcase == 'quit'

      response = @socket.gets
      puts "Server response: #{response}"
    end

    @socket.close
    puts "Connection closed"
  rescue StandardError => e
    puts "Error: #{e.message}"
    @socket&.close
  end
end

# Usage
client = EchoClient.new
client.connect

UDP Example

For connectionless communication, here's a UDP example:

require 'socket'

# UDP Server
class UDPServer
  def initialize(host = 'localhost', port = 8080)
    @socket = UDPSocket.new
    @socket.bind(host, port)
    puts "UDP Server listening on #{host}:#{port}"
  end

  def start
    loop do
      data, addr = @socket.recvfrom(1024)
      puts "Received from #{addr[2]}:#{addr[1]}: #{data}"
      @socket.send("Echo: #{data}", 0, addr[2], addr[1])
    end
  rescue Interrupt
    puts "\nShutting down server..."
    @socket.close
  end
end

# UDP Client
class UDPClient
  def initialize(host = 'localhost', port = 8080)
    @socket = UDPSocket.new
    @host = host
    @port = port
  end

  def send_message(message)
    @socket.send(message, 0, @host, @port)
    response, addr = @socket.recvfrom(1024)
    puts "Server response: #{response}"
  end

  def close
    @socket.close
  end
end

High-Level Networking: Using Net::HTTP {#net-http}

Net::HTTP provides a comprehensive interface for HTTP operations. Here are practical examples for common use cases:

GET Requests with Parameters

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

def fetch_with_params(base_url, params = {})
  uri = URI(base_url)
  uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params) unless params.empty?

  response = Net::HTTP.get_response(uri)

  case response
  when Net::HTTPSuccess
    response.body
  when Net::HTTPRedirection
    location = response['location']
    puts "Redirected to: #{location}"
    fetch_with_params(location)
  else
    raise "HTTP Error: #{response.code} #{response.message}"
  end
end

# Usage
data = fetch_with_params('https://httpbin.org/get', {
  name: 'Ruby',
  version: '3.0'
})
puts data

POST Requests with JSON

require 'net/http'
require 'json'
require 'uri'

def post_json(url, data)
  uri = URI(url)
  http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
  http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'

  request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri.path)
  request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
  request['Accept'] = 'application/json'
  request.body = data.to_json

  response = http.request(request)

  if response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
    JSON.parse(response.body)
  else
    raise "HTTP Error: #{response.code} #{response.message}"
  end
end

# Usage
payload = {
  name: "Ruby Developer",
  email: "ruby@example.com",
  skills: ["Ruby", "Rails", "Networking"]
}

result = post_json('https://httpbin.org/post', payload)
puts result

File Upload Example

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

def upload_file(url, file_path, field_name = 'file')
  uri = URI(url)

  File.open(file_path, 'rb') do |file|
    boundary = "----WebKitFormBoundary#{Time.now.to_i}"

    post_body = []
    post_body << "--#{boundary}\r\n"
    post_body << "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"#{field_name}\"; filename=\"#{File.basename(file_path)}\"\r\n"
    post_body << "Content-Type: application/octet-stream\r\n\r\n"
    post_body << file.read
    post_body << "\r\n--#{boundary}--\r\n"

    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'

    request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri.path)
    request['Content-Type'] = "multipart/form-data; boundary=#{boundary}"
    request.body = post_body.join

    response = http.request(request)
    response.body
  end
end

HTTP Client with Connection Pooling

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

class HTTPClient
  def initialize(base_url, options = {})
    @uri = URI(base_url)
    @options = {
      open_timeout: 10,
      read_timeout: 30,
      max_retries: 3
    }.merge(options)

    @http = Net::HTTP.new(@uri.host, @uri.port)
    @http.use_ssl = @uri.scheme == 'https'
    @http.open_timeout = @options[:open_timeout]
    @http.read_timeout = @options[:read_timeout]
    @http.start
  end

  def get(path, params = {})
    uri = @uri.dup
    uri.path = path
    uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params) unless params.empty?

    request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri.request_uri)
    execute_request(request)
  end

  def post(path, data, content_type = 'application/json')
    request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(path)
    request['Content-Type'] = content_type
    request.body = data.is_a?(String) ? data : data.to_json

    execute_request(request)
  end

  def close
    @http.finish if @http.started?
  end

  private

  def execute_request(request)
    retries = 0
    begin
      response = @http.request(request)

      case response
      when Net::HTTPSuccess
        response.body
      when Net::HTTPRedirection
        raise "Redirection not supported in this client"
      else
        raise "HTTP Error: #{response.code} #{response.message}"
      end
    rescue Net::TimeoutError, Errno::ECONNRESET => e
      retries += 1
      if retries <= @options[:max_retries]
        sleep(2 ** retries)  # Exponential backoff
        retry
      else
        raise "Max retries exceeded: #{e.message}"
      end
    end
  end
end

# Usage
client = HTTPClient.new('https://httpbin.org')
result = client.get('/get', { key: 'value' })
puts result
client.close

Advanced Networking Libraries and Gems {#advanced-libraries}

While Ruby's standard library covers basic networking needs, the ecosystem offers powerful gems for specialized tasks:

Popular HTTP Clients

Faraday

A flexible HTTP client library that supports middleware:

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new(url: 'https://httpbin.org') do |faraday|
  faraday.request :json
  faraday.response :json
  faraday.response :logger
  faraday.adapter Faraday.default_adapter
end

response = conn.get('/get', { param: 'value' })
puts response.body

HTTParty

A simplified HTTP client with a clean DSL:

require 'httparty'

class APIClient
  include HTTParty
  base_uri 'https://api.example.com'

  def self.get_user(id)
    get("/users/#{id}")
  end

  def self.create_user(user_data)
    post('/users', body: user_data.to_json, headers: { 'Content-Type' => 'application/json' })
  end
end

SSH and Secure File Transfer

Net::SSH

For remote command execution:

require 'net/ssh'

Net::SSH.start('hostname', 'username', password: 'password') do |ssh|
  # Execute a command
  result = ssh.exec!('ls -la')
  puts result

  # Open a channel for more complex operations
  ssh.open_channel do |channel|
    channel.exec('tail -f /var/log/syslog') do |ch, success|
      raise "Command failed" unless success

      channel.on_data do |ch, data|
        puts data
      end
    end
  end
end

Net::SCP

For secure file transfers:

require 'net/scp'

Net::SCP.start('hostname', 'username', password: 'password') do |scp|
  # Upload a file
  scp.upload!('/local/file.txt', '/remote/file.txt')

  # Download a file
  scp.download!('/remote/file.txt', '/local/downloaded_file.txt')
end

Concurrent HTTP Requests

Typhoeus

For high-performance concurrent requests:

require 'typhoeus'

urls = [
  'https://httpbin.org/get',
  'https://httpbin.org/uuid',
  'https://httpbin.org/ip'
]

hydra = Typhoeus::Hydra.new(max_concurrency: 3)

requests = urls.map do |url|
  request = Typhoeus::Request.new(url)
  hydra.queue(request)
  request
end

hydra.run

requests.each do |request|
  puts "Response for #{request.url}: #{request.response.code}"
end

Best Practices and Security {#best-practices}

Error Handling and Timeouts

Always implement proper error handling and timeouts:

require 'net/http'
require 'timeout'

def robust_http_request(url, options = {})
  uri = URI(url)
  timeout_duration = options[:timeout] || 10

  Timeout.timeout(timeout_duration) do
    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'
    http.read_timeout = timeout_duration
    http.open_timeout = timeout_duration

    response = http.get(uri.path)

    case response
    when Net::HTTPSuccess
      response.body
    when Net::HTTPRedirection
      # Handle redirects (with loop prevention)
      redirect_url = response['location']
      raise "Too many redirects" if options[:redirect_count].to_i > 5

      robust_http_request(redirect_url, options.merge(redirect_count: options[:redirect_count].to_i + 1))
    else
      raise "HTTP Error: #{response.code} #{response.message}"
    end
  end
rescue Timeout::Error
  raise "Request timed out after #{timeout_duration} seconds"
rescue StandardError => e
  raise "Network error: #{e.message}"
end

Input Validation and Sanitization

require 'uri'

def validate_url(url)
  uri = URI.parse(url)

  # Check scheme
  unless %w[http https].include?(uri.scheme)
    raise "Invalid scheme: #{uri.scheme}"
  end

  # Check for private IP ranges (basic check)
  if uri.host =~ /^(10\.|172\.(1[6-9]|2\d|3[01])\.|192\.168\.)/
    raise "Private IP addresses not allowed"
  end

  # Check for localhost
  if uri.host =~ /^(localhost|127\.0\.0\.1|::1)$/
    raise "Localhost not allowed"
  end

  uri
rescue URI::InvalidURIError => e
  raise "Invalid URL: #{e.message}"
end

SSL/TLS Configuration

require 'net/http'
require 'openssl'

def secure_http_request(url)
  uri = URI(url)

  http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
  http.use_ssl = true

  # Configure SSL options
  http.ssl_version = :TLSv1_2
  http.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER
  http.ca_file = '/path/to/ca-bundle.crt'  # System CA bundle

  # Optional: Certificate pinning
  http.verify_callback = proc do |preverify_ok, ssl_context|
    if preverify_ok
      cert = ssl_context.current_cert
      # Verify certificate fingerprint
      expected_fingerprint = 'AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF:00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99:AA:BB:CC:DD'
      actual_fingerprint = Digest::SHA1.hexdigest(cert.to_der).upcase.scan(/../).join(':')
      actual_fingerprint == expected_fingerprint
    else
      false
    end
  end

  response = http.get(uri.path)
  response.body
end

Rate Limiting and Throttling

class RateLimitedClient
  def initialize(requests_per_second = 10)
    @requests_per_second = requests_per_second
    @last_request_time = Time.now
    @request_count = 0
  end

  def make_request(url)
    enforce_rate_limit

    # Make the actual request
    uri = URI(url)
    response = Net::HTTP.get_response(uri)

    @request_count += 1
    response.body
  end

  private

  def enforce_rate_limit
    now = Time.now
    time_since_last_request = now - @last_request_time

    if time_since_last_request < (1.0 / @requests_per_second)
      sleep_time = (1.0 / @requests_per_second) - time_since_last_request
      sleep(sleep_time)
    end

    @last_request_time = Time.now
  end
end

Real-World Applications {#real-world-applications}

Web Scraper with Retry Logic

require 'net/http'
require 'nokogiri'
require 'uri'

class WebScraper
  def initialize(options = {})
    @max_retries = options[:max_retries] || 3
    @retry_delay = options[:retry_delay] || 1
    @user_agent = options[:user_agent] || 'Ruby WebScraper 1.0'
  end

  def scrape(url)
    retries = 0

    begin
      uri = URI(url)
      http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
      http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'

      request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri.path)
      request['User-Agent'] = @user_agent

      response = http.request(request)

      case response
      when Net::HTTPSuccess
        parse_content(response.body)
      when Net::HTTPRedirection
        new_url = response['location']
        scrape(new_url)
      else
        raise "HTTP Error: #{response.code}"
      end

    rescue StandardError => e
      retries += 1
      if retries <= @max_retries
        puts "Retry #{retries}/#{@max_retries} for #{url}: #{e.message}"
        sleep(@retry_delay * retries)
        retry
      else
        raise "Failed to scrape #{url} after #{@max_retries} retries: #{e.message}"
      end
    end
  end

  private

  def parse_content(html)
    doc = Nokogiri::HTML(html)

    {
      title: doc.css('title').text.strip,
      links: doc.css('a').map { |link| link['href'] }.compact,
      headings: doc.css('h1, h2, h3').map(&:text).map(&:strip)
    }
  end
end

# Usage
scraper = WebScraper.new(max_retries: 5)
result = scraper.scrape('https://example.com')
puts result

API Client with Caching

require 'net/http'
require 'json'
require 'digest'

class CachedAPIClient
  def initialize(base_url, cache_ttl = 300)
    @base_url = base_url
    @cache_ttl = cache_ttl
    @cache = {}
  end

  def get(endpoint, params = {})
    cache_key = generate_cache_key(endpoint, params)

    if cached_response = get_from_cache(cache_key)
      puts "Cache hit for #{endpoint}"
      return cached_response
    end

    response = make_request(endpoint, params)
    store_in_cache(cache_key, response)
    response
  end

  private

  def generate_cache_key(endpoint, params)
    content = "#{endpoint}#{params.to_json}"
    Digest::MD5.hexdigest(content)
  end

  def get_from_cache(key)
    cached_item = @cache[key]
    return nil unless cached_item

    if Time.now - cached_item[:timestamp] < @cache_ttl
      cached_item[:data]
    else
      @cache.delete(key)
      nil
    end
  end

  def store_in_cache(key, data)
    @cache[key] = {
      data: data,
      timestamp: Time.now
    }
  end

  def make_request(endpoint, params)
    uri = URI("#{@base_url}#{endpoint}")
    uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params) unless params.empty?

    response = Net::HTTP.get_response(uri)

    if response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
      JSON.parse(response.body)
    else
      raise "API Error: #{response.code} #{response.message}"
    end
  end
end

# Usage
client = CachedAPIClient.new('https://api.example.com', 600)
data = client.get('/users', { limit: 10 })
puts data

Simple Load Balancer

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

class LoadBalancer
  def initialize(servers)
    @servers = servers
    @current_index = 0
    @failed_servers = Set.new
  end

  def make_request(path, method = :get, body = nil)
    attempts = 0
    max_attempts = @servers.length

    while attempts < max_attempts
      server = next_server

      begin
        response = send_request(server, path, method, body)
        mark_server_healthy(server)
        return response
      rescue StandardError => e
        puts "Request to #{server} failed: #{e.message}"
        mark_server_failed(server)
        attempts += 1
      end
    end

    raise "All servers failed"
  end

  private

  def next_server
    available_servers = @servers - @failed_servers.to_a
    raise "No healthy servers available" if available_servers.empty?

    server = available_servers[@current_index % available_servers.length]
    @current_index += 1
    server
  end

  def send_request(server, path, method, body)
    uri = URI("#{server}#{path}")

    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'
    http.read_timeout = 5

    request = case method
              when :get
                Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri.path)
              when :post
                req = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri.path)
                req.body = body if body
                req
              else
                raise "Unsupported method: #{method}"
              end

    response = http.request(request)

    if response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
      response.body
    else
      raise "HTTP Error: #{response.code}"
    end
  end

  def mark_server_failed(server)
    @failed_servers.add(server)
  end

  def mark_server_healthy(server)
    @failed_servers.delete(server)
  end
end

# Usage
lb = LoadBalancer.new([
  'https://server1.example.com',
  'https://server2.example.com',
  'https://server3.example.com'
])

response = lb.make_request('/api/health')
puts response

Conclusion {#conclusion}

Ruby's networking capabilities provide a robust foundation for building connected applications. From the high-level abstractions in the Net module to the fine-grained control offered by socket programming, Ruby offers flexibility and power for various networking scenarios.

Key Takeaways:

Start with Net::HTTP for basic HTTP operations—it's included in the standard library and handles most common use cases
Use sockets when you need low-level control or custom protocols
Leverage gems like Faraday, HTTParty, or Typhoeus for advanced features and better developer experience
Always implement proper error handling, timeouts, and security measures
Consider performance implications and use appropriate concurrency patterns for high-throughput applications

Next Steps:

Explore WebSocket support with gems like websocket-client-simple
Learn about async networking with async-http or eventmachine
Investigate GraphQL clients like graphql-client
Consider message queues and pub/sub patterns with gems like bunny (RabbitMQ) or redis

Ruby's networking ecosystem continues to evolve, with new gems and improvements being added regularly. The examples in this guide provide a solid foundation for building robust, scalable networked applications in Ruby.

Happy networking!

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Davide Santangelo

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Davide Santangelo | Sciencx (2025-07-11T06:36:48+00:00) Exploring Ruby’s Networking Capabilities: From Basics to Advanced Implementations. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/11/exploring-rubys-networking-capabilities-from-basics-to-advanced-implementations/

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" » Exploring Ruby’s Networking Capabilities: From Basics to Advanced Implementations." Davide Santangelo | Sciencx - Friday July 11, 2025, https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/11/exploring-rubys-networking-capabilities-from-basics-to-advanced-implementations/

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