FAQ

What is UDP ?

UDP, or User Datagram Protocol, is a core member of the Internet protocol suite, often used in applications where speed and efficiency are more critical than error correction and completeness. Unlike its counterpart, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), UDP does not establish a connection before sending data, does not guarantee delivery, and does not check for order. This makes UDP significantly faster and more suitable for time-sensitive applications such as video streaming, online gaming, and voice over IP (VoIP), where losing some packets is preferable to waiting for delayed data.

Details on UDP include:

Connectionless: UDP does not establish a connection before sending data, allowing data to be sent without the overhead of setting up and maintaining a connection.
Unreliable Delivery: There is no guarantee that the data sent will reach its destination, as UDP does not provide acknowledgments or retries.
No Error Correction: UDP does not offer any mechanism for error checking and correction. Any error detection and correction must be implemented at the application level.
Efficient: The lack of connection setup, error checking, and delivery acknowledgment makes UDP less resource-intensive, thus faster.
Order of Packets: UDP does not ensure that packets arrive in the order they were sent.

This protocol is particularly beneficial in scenarios where the delivery speed is more critical than the precision of the transmission.