Erlang provides robust support for network programming and socket communication through its built-in libraries and primitives. Here's an overview of how Erlang handles network programming and socket communication:

* TCP and UDP Sockets : Erlang's `gen_tcp` and `gen_udp` modules provide abstractions for working with TCP and UDP sockets, respectively. These modules allow you to create, bind, connect, send, and receive data over network sockets. You can open multiple sockets and handle concurrent communication with different clients or servers.

* Socket Options : Erlang's socket modules offer various options to configure socket behavior, such as setting the socket's timeout, enabling or disabling various socket options (such as reuse of addresses), and specifying the socket's mode (e.g., binary or raw mode).

* Socket APIs : Erlang provides a rich set of APIs to work with sockets. Some commonly used functions include `gen_tcp:listen/2` to listen for incoming connections, `gen_tcp:accept/1` to accept incoming connections and create new sockets for communication, `gen_tcp:connect/3` to establish a connection to a remote server, and `gen_tcp:send/2` and `gen_tcp:recv/3` for sending and receiving data over TCP sockets.

* Asynchronous Socket Communication : Erlang's socket communication is inherently asynchronous, leveraging its message passing model. When using sockets, you can use Erlang's `gen_tcp` and `gen_udp` modules to receive and handle messages asynchronously. The `inet` module provides functions to convert between Erlang terms and network byte orders.
* Distributed Communication : Erlang's network programming capabilities extend to distributed communication as well. Erlang nodes can communicate with each other over the network using the same socket primitives and APIs. This enables the development of distributed Erlang systems where processes on different nodes can communicate seamlessly.

* Higher-Level Protocols : Erlang also provides higher-level libraries and protocols built on top of sockets. For example, the `gen_sctp` module provides support for the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), while the `ssl` module enables secure socket communication using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols.

* OTP Behaviors for Network Programming : Erlang's OTP (Open Telecom Platform) behaviors, such as `gen_server`, `gen_fsm`, and `gen_event`, can be used to build networked applications by encapsulating socket communication and providing abstractions for handling connections, managing states, and handling message passing between processes.