- use POSIX getaddrinfo/getnameinfo as they provide a good top-level interface which 
  is quite portable (even on Windows)

Good code examples:
- UNPV12e of W. Richard Stevens (Unix Network Programming), the must-read
- postgresql has a good getaddrinfo replacement for Windows and Cygwin
- some very helpful tips: www_kame_net_newsletter_19980604.txt