diff --git a/Network/Socket.hs b/Network/Socket.hs
index 3c9f4f75..bae4358d 100644
--- a/Network/Socket.hs
+++ b/Network/Socket.hs
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ module Network.Socket
     , Socket
     , socket
     , openSocket
+    , socketFromEndpoint
     , withFdSocket
     , unsafeFdSocket
     , touchSocket
@@ -183,8 +184,14 @@ module Network.Socket
     -- ** Protocol number
     , ProtocolNumber
     , defaultProtocol
+    -- * Basic socket endpoint type
+    , SockEndpoint(..)
+    , readSockEndpoint
+    , showSockEndpoint
+    , resolveEndpoint
     -- * Basic socket address type
     , SockAddr(..)
+    , sockAddrFamily
     , isSupportedSockAddr
     , getPeerName
     , getSocketName
diff --git a/Network/Socket/Info.hsc b/Network/Socket/Info.hsc
index 0a874a92..6b92ebb4 100644
--- a/Network/Socket/Info.hsc
+++ b/Network/Socket/Info.hsc
@@ -7,25 +7,19 @@
 
 module Network.Socket.Info where
 
+import Control.Exception (try, IOException)
 import Foreign.Marshal.Alloc (alloca, allocaBytes)
 import Foreign.Marshal.Utils (maybeWith, with)
 import GHC.IO.Exception (IOErrorType(NoSuchThing))
 import System.IO.Error (ioeSetErrorString, mkIOError)
+import System.IO.Unsafe (unsafePerformIO)
+import Text.Read (readEither)
 
 import Network.Socket.Imports
 import Network.Socket.Internal
-import Network.Socket.Syscall
+import Network.Socket.Syscall (socket)
 import Network.Socket.Types
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
--- | Either a host name e.g., @\"haskell.org\"@ or a numeric host
--- address string consisting of a dotted decimal IPv4 address or an
--- IPv6 address e.g., @\"192.168.0.1\"@.
-type HostName       = String
--- | Either a service name e.g., @\"http\"@ or a numeric port number.
-type ServiceName    = String
-
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- Address and service lookups
 
@@ -467,10 +461,74 @@ showHostAddress6 ha6@(a1, a2, a3, a4)
         scanl (\c i -> if i == 0 then c - 1 else 0) 0 fields `zip` [0..]
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 -- | A utility function to open a socket with `AddrInfo`.
 -- This is a just wrapper for the following code:
 --
 -- > \addr -> socket (addrFamily addr) (addrSocketType addr) (addrProtocol addr)
 openSocket :: AddrInfo -> IO Socket
 openSocket addr = socket (addrFamily addr) (addrSocketType addr) (addrProtocol addr)
+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- SockEndpoint
+
+-- | Read a string representing a socket endpoint.
+readSockEndpoint :: PortNumber -> String -> Either String SockEndpoint
+readSockEndpoint defPort hostport = case hostport of
+  '/':_ -> Right $ EndpointByAddr $ SockAddrUnix hostport
+  '[':tl -> case span ((/=) ']') tl of
+    (_, []) -> Left $ "unterminated IPv6 address: " <> hostport
+    (ipv6, _:port) -> case readAddr ipv6 of
+      Nothing -> Left $ "invalid IPv6 address: " <> ipv6
+      Just addr -> EndpointByAddr . sockAddrPort addr <$> readPort port
+  _ -> case span ((/=) ':') hostport of
+    (host, port) -> case readAddr host of
+      Nothing -> EndpointByName host <$> readPort port
+      Just addr -> EndpointByAddr . sockAddrPort addr <$> readPort port
+ where
+  readPort "" = Right defPort
+  readPort ":" = Right defPort
+  readPort (':':port) = case readEither port of
+    Right p -> Right p
+    Left _ -> Left $ "bad port: " <> port
+  readPort x = Left $ "bad port: " <> x
+  hints = Just $ defaultHints { addrFlags = [AI_NUMERICHOST] }
+  readAddr host = case unsafePerformIO (try (getAddrInfo hints (Just host) Nothing)) of
+    Left e -> Nothing where _ = e :: IOException
+    Right r -> Just (addrAddress (head r))
+  sockAddrPort h p = case h of
+    SockAddrInet _ a -> SockAddrInet p a
+    SockAddrInet6 _ f a s -> SockAddrInet6 p f a s
+    x -> x
+
+showSockEndpoint :: SockEndpoint -> String
+showSockEndpoint n = case n of
+  EndpointByName h p -> h <> ":" <> show p
+  EndpointByAddr a -> show a
+
+-- | Resolve a socket endpoint into a list of socket addresses.
+-- The result is always non-empty; Haskell throws an exception if name
+-- resolution fails.
+resolveEndpoint :: SockEndpoint -> IO [SockAddr]
+resolveEndpoint name = case name of
+  EndpointByAddr a -> return [a]
+  EndpointByName host port -> fmap addrAddress <$> getAddrInfo hints (Just host) (Just (show port))
+ where
+  hints = Just $ defaultHints { addrSocketType = Stream }
+  -- prevents duplicates, otherwise getAddrInfo returns all socket types
+
+-- | Shortcut for creating a socket from a socket endpoint.
+--
+-- >>> import Network.Socket
+-- >>> let Right sn = readSockEndpoint 0 "0.0.0.0:0"
+-- >>> (s, a) <- socketFromEndpoint sn head Stream defaultProtocol
+-- >>> bind s a
+socketFromEndpoint
+  :: SockEndpoint
+  -> ([SockAddr] -> SockAddr)
+  -> SocketType
+  -> ProtocolNumber
+  -> IO (Socket, SockAddr)
+socketFromEndpoint end select stype protocol = do
+  a <- select <$> resolveEndpoint end
+  s <- socket (sockAddrFamily a) stype protocol
+  return (s, a)
diff --git a/Network/Socket/Types.hsc b/Network/Socket/Types.hsc
index be9b9c45..26afe0da 100644
--- a/Network/Socket/Types.hsc
+++ b/Network/Socket/Types.hsc
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ module Network.Socket.Types (
     , withNewSocketAddress
 
     -- * Socket address type
+    , SockEndpoint(..)
     , SockAddr(..)
+    , sockAddrFamily
     , isSupportedSockAddr
     , HostAddress
     , hostAddressToTuple
@@ -72,6 +74,8 @@ module Network.Socket.Types (
     , defaultProtocol
     , PortNumber
     , defaultPort
+    , HostName
+    , ServiceName
 
     -- * Low-level helpers
     , zeroMemory
@@ -289,6 +293,13 @@ type ProtocolNumber = CInt
 defaultProtocol :: ProtocolNumber
 defaultProtocol = 0
 
+-- | Either a host name e.g., @\"haskell.org\"@ or a numeric host
+-- address string consisting of a dotted decimal IPv4 address or an
+-- IPv6 address e.g., @\"192.168.0.1\"@.
+type HostName       = String
+-- | Either a service name e.g., @\"http\"@ or a numeric port number.
+type ServiceName    = String
+
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- Socket types
 
@@ -1047,6 +1058,23 @@ type FlowInfo = Word32
 -- | Scope identifier.
 type ScopeID = Word32
 
+-- | Socket endpoints.
+--
+-- A wrapper around socket addresses that also accommodates the
+-- popular usage of specifying them by name, e.g. "example.com:80".
+-- We don't support service names here (string aliases for port
+-- numbers) because they also imply a particular socket type, which
+-- is outside of the scope of this data type.
+--
+-- This roughly corresponds to the "authority" part of a URI, as
+-- defined here: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986#section-3.2
+--
+-- See also 'Network.Socket.socketFromEndpoint'.
+data SockEndpoint
+  = EndpointByName !HostName !PortNumber
+  | EndpointByAddr !SockAddr
+  deriving (Eq, Ord)
+
 -- | Socket addresses.
 --  The existence of a constructor does not necessarily imply that
 --  that socket address type is supported on your system: see
@@ -1070,6 +1098,12 @@ instance NFData SockAddr where
   rnf (SockAddrInet6 _ _ _ _) = ()
   rnf (SockAddrUnix str) = rnf str
 
+sockAddrFamily :: SockAddr -> Family
+sockAddrFamily addr = case addr of
+  SockAddrInet _ _ -> AF_INET
+  SockAddrInet6 _ _ _ _ -> AF_INET6
+  SockAddrUnix _ -> AF_UNIX
+
 -- | Is the socket address type supported on this system?
 isSupportedSockAddr :: SockAddr -> Bool
 isSupportedSockAddr addr = case addr of
diff --git a/tests/Network/SocketSpec.hs b/tests/Network/SocketSpec.hs
index d5413b06..cac92e1c 100644
--- a/tests/Network/SocketSpec.hs
+++ b/tests/Network/SocketSpec.hs
@@ -163,6 +163,27 @@ spec = do
             -- check if an exception is not thrown.
             isSupportedSockAddr addr `shouldBe` True
 
+        it "endpoints API, IPv4" $ do
+            let Right end = readSockEndpoint 0 "127.0.0.1:6001"
+            (sock, addr) <- socketFromEndpoint end head Stream defaultProtocol
+            bind sock addr
+            listen sock 1
+            close sock
+
+        it "endpoints API, IPv6" $ do
+            let Right end = readSockEndpoint 0 "[::1]:6001"
+            (sock, addr) <- socketFromEndpoint end head Stream defaultProtocol
+            bind sock addr
+            listen sock 1
+            close sock
+
+        it "endpoints API, DNS" $ do
+            let Right end = readSockEndpoint 0 "localhost:6001"
+            (sock, addr) <- socketFromEndpoint end head Stream defaultProtocol
+            bind sock addr
+            listen sock 1
+            close sock
+
 #if !defined(mingw32_HOST_OS)
     when isUnixDomainSocketAvailable $ do
         context "unix sockets" $ do