Unix Domain Socket

Definitions

1. An inter-process communication mechanism on Unix-like systems that uses the socket API but communicates via a file path in the filesystem (e.g., `/var/run/docker.sock`) instead of a network address. Since data never traverses the network stack, Unix domain sockets have lower latency and higher throughput than TCP loopback, and support passing file descriptors and credentials between processes.

   In plain English: A way for programs on the same computer to talk to each other through a special file, faster than using a network connection.

   Example: "Nginx talks to the upstream PHP-FPM process over a Unix domain socket at `/run/php/php-fpm.sock` — it's faster than TCP localhost and avoids port conflicts."

Related Terms

• SIGKILL
• NAT
• Pipe
• Marshalling
• Message Protocol
• Named Pipe
• Platform Channel
• Remote Procedure Call
• Socket
• Unix Socket
• XPC