Section 4.5. Late Binding

4.5. Late Binding

Sometimes, when a user chooses a service from a list, it is for immediate use.

Other times, a user makes a choice, like picking a default printer, which may be used repeatedly in the coming hours, days, or weeks. In the latter case, it's important that the client software store the chosen service name, type, and domain, instead of resolving the named service to an IP address and storing that. This is because IP addresses and port numbers can change, whereas service names are the intended stable identifier for a given logical service instance. As long as the client resolves the service name at printing time, it will be sure to get the current address and port number, even if they have changed in the time since the service was first discovered.