the.com/udp
the postcard of networking: fires off your message and doesn't wait to hear if it landed.
means a protocol that sends data packets without establishing a connection, checking delivery, or caring what happened next.
from user datagram protocol, defined in 1980 by david p. reilly as the lean alternative to tcp — literally described as adding almost nothing to the raw ip layer, which was the entire point.
header sizejust 8 bytes, tcp needs 20+
used byvideo calls, dns, online games, livestreams
no handshakeskips the tcp three-way setup entirely
lost packetsstay lost, nobody resends them