title: How do you decide what port to use?
body: <p>This is a little subjective, as there are no <em>rules</em> so to speak. Every time I create a server, I think to myself, "What is the best port to use?" I guess <em>an</em> answer is "Any, as long as the user can change it." So, how does everyone else decide how to choose the default port? Personally, I like to use something like 8000-something if it's HTTP related, and I've noticed this is a pretty common trend. But what if 8000 is already in use? Use 8001? It seems a little ad-hoc, and I suppose it is.</p>
  
  <p>Clearly I'm not the first to have asked this question; IANA maintain a <a href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers" rel="noreferrer">port numbers</a> list... Which leads me on to the unassigned range (48620-49150). I guess we should really be using these, but why don't more programmers do so? How do you decide which to use; if everyone started at #1, then we'd all be using 48620.</p>