sockets and Windows behavior

[John Rule]

Thank you for the detailed responses everyone!

To make my task even more difficult, I was trying to do a UDP broadcast, and
accept a variable number of responses (unspecified number of devices).

What became confusing was 'when' to parse the data parameter and when to use
the 'with function' call. It was even further complicated by when the
devices responded (when the socket is opened, or when the 'poll' is sent). 

It turned out to be a combination of several things...loads of fun.

JR