UDP

UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol, which is a connectionless transport protocol that operates on the Internet Protocol (IP) layer. Unlike TCP, UDP does not provide guaranteed delivery of data, sequencing, or flow control mechanisms. Instead, UDP provides a simple and lightweight way to send and receive datagrams, or packets of data, over a network.

UDP is often used in applications that require low-latency communication or that can tolerate some degree of data loss, such as online gaming, video streaming, and real-time communication applications. It is also used for applications that require multicast or broadcast communication, where a single packet can be sent to multiple recipients at once.

UDP packets are sent without establishing a connection between the sender and receiver. Instead, the sender simply sends a datagram to a specific destination IP address and port number. The packet may be lost or received out of order, but the receiver does not notify the sender of any errors or lost packets.

Because UDP does not provide any flow control or congestion control mechanisms, it can be faster than TCP for applications that require rapid, low-latency communication. However, this also means that it may be less reliable than TCP and may require additional error detection and correction mechanisms to ensure that data is received correctly.