What type of protocol is UDP?

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UDP, or User Datagram Protocol, is classified as a connection-less protocol. This means that it does not establish a dedicated end-to-end connection before data is transmitted. Instead, UDP sends packets, known as datagrams, to the destination without ensuring that the recipient is ready to receive them or that the packets arrive in order.

This characteristic allows UDP to offer lower latency in data transmission since there is no need for the overhead associated with establishing and maintaining a connection, making it suitable for applications where speed is critical, such as video streaming, online gaming, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

In contrast to connection-oriented protocols like TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), which guarantee the delivery of packets in the correct order and handle retransmissions if packets are lost, UDP does not provide such reliability mechanisms. This lack of connection setup and error-checking can facilitate faster communication, but it also means that some packets may be lost or arrive out of order without any notification to the sender or receiver.

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