"Also when I try to recv() data from the socket when none is available it locks up the application"

I noticed that you don't use IO::Select in your client program. Probably you thought IO::Select is only for multiplexing, thus there is no need to use it in your client program, but that is a misunderstanding.

If you don't want to block on recv() even when nothing to recv(), then better use IO::Select, and check can_read first.

Try with the attached scripts, and observe the results:

Server:

use IO::Select;
use IO::Socket::INET;

use warnings;
use strict;

my $s = IO::Socket::INET->new(Proto => "tcp", LocalAddr => "localhost"
+, LocalPort => 1234, Listen => 10);
print "waiting...\n";
my $c = $s->accept();
print "connected\n";
while (1) {
    $c->send("abc");
    sleep(3);
}
[download]

A client that does not block

use IO::Select;
use IO::Socket::INET;

use warnings;
use strict;

print "started\n";
my $c = IO::Socket::INET->new(Proto => "tcp", PeerAddr => "localhost",
+ PeerPort => 1234);
print "connected\n";

my $sel = IO::Select->new($c);

my $msg;
my @r;

while (1) {
    if (@r = $sel->can_read(0)) {
        $r[0]->recv($msg, 1024);
        print time() . " $msg" . "\n"
    } else {
        print time() . " one loop\n";
    }
    sleep(1);
}
[download]

A client blocks

use IO::Socket::INET;

use warnings;
use strict;

print "started\n";
my $c = IO::Socket::INET->new(Proto => "tcp", PeerAddr => "localhost",
+ PeerPort => 1234);
print "connected\n";

my $msg;

while (1) {
    $c->recv($msg, 1024);
    print time() . " one loop\n";
}
[download]

---

---

Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!

Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.

Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.

Please read these before you post! —

• How do I compose an effective node title?
• How do I post a question effectively?
• Markup in the Monastery

Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:

a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr

You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)

	For:		Use:
	&		&
	<		&lt;
	>		&gt;
	[		&#91;
	]		&#93;

Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?

See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.