A portal is a kind of network access point, invented by Rogue Wave, that is not specific to a particular network protocol. In traditional network programming, a socket is specific to a particular network technology. In the Essential Networking Module, portals represent a higher-level abstraction than sockets because they transcend any particular networking technology. In this sense, the concept of a protocol-independent portal is unique to Rogue Wave; you won’t find it in traditional network programming manuals.

Class RWPortal of the Essential Networking Module is an encapsulation of the portal concept. Its derived class RWSocketPortal is the first class you encounter when making a connection to a network.