SharpRUDP

Custom C# implementation of a Reliable UDP (RUDP) algorithm.

This project was born because I spent around 2 weeks working on a side project which required reliable UDP packet transmission, and the current options out there weren't up to the task. Why?

• Codeplex RUDP: It looks great, but too complicated for using it in a simple app.
• Raknet: The code is huge, and just reading the instructions to use it in C# gave me a headache.
• Lidgren: Hard to use with C#, it's also a C++ wrapper like Enet, and there's a lack of documentation too.
• Enet: Lack of documentation for the C# version. It's a wrapper to the C++ library. Hard to debug when used in C#.

I also tried to spin off my own RUDP implementation following the RFC and failing miserably. Those docs are very high-level, and the addendum made the pseudocode algorithm even harder to follow. So, I grew tired of all this and made my own algorithm...

Usage

For a detailed (yet simple!) sample have a look at PacketTest.cs Run() method. Includes how to instantiate a server, listen for packets, instantiate a client and send packets. It's no big deal, it's made to be used easily without much fuss.

Features

• Thread-safe.
• Keeps the connection alive using tiny keepalive packets.
• Retransmission of unacknowledged packets in the next send/reset iteration.
• Different serialization options (JSON and Binary. Binary is default, as it's WAY faster than JSON!)
• Packet data can be in JSON format, so the protocol can be ported to other languages (Node.js anyone?) without much issue.
• Pure concise, clean C# code. Avoids C++ wrappers and obscure BS. Most of the code is in RUDPConnection.cs and it's < 600 lines long!.
• Long data can be sent and will be retrieved sequentially, while keeping packet size to a safe MTU value (8Kb, since Android has 16Kb and Windows has 64Kb, safe spot is 8Kb). However, it will reserve 20% of that size for packet data just in case.

About & License

Created by Alemar Osorio (DARKGuy).

Licensing is temporary GPL. For now, no commercial usage is allowed. This will change in the future though.