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What is a Protocol?

A protocol is a set of rules that controls how data is sent and received over a network. Every device connected to the internet follows these rules so that different hardware, software, and systems can communicate with each other reliably.

Protocols are like a shared language. When your browser requests a webpage, it uses a protocol called HTTP (or its secure version, HTTPS) to ask for that page and receive it. Without a common set of rules, your computer and a web server would have no way to understand each other.

Protocols define things like how data gets broken into pieces, what order those pieces travel in, how errors get handled, and when a connection starts or ends. TCP governs how data packets are delivered reliably, UDP prioritizes speed over accuracy, and DNS uses its own protocol to translate domain names into IP addresses.

You interact with protocols constantly without seeing them. When you send an email, stream a video, or load a website, multiple protocols are working together behind the scenes to make it happen.