--- title: Networking 101: UDP & TCP | daily.dev description: A beginner-friendly introduction to UDP and TCP networking protocols. Covers shared concepts like IP addresses (IPv4 vs IPv6), ports, and loopback addresses,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/networking-101-udp-tcp-ffjmm0wgc twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Networking 101: UDP & TCP | daily.dev og:description: A beginner-friendly introduction to UDP and TCP networking protocols. Covers shared concepts like IP addresses (IPv4 vs IPv6), ports, and loopback addresses,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/networking-101-udp-tcp-ffjmm0wgc og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/FfJMM0WGc.png og:image:alt: Networking 101: UDP & TCP og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Networking 101: UDP & TCP **[Playful Programming](https://daily.dev/sources/playfulprogramming)** · [@crutchcorn](https://daily.dev/crutchcorn) · 9 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A beginner-friendly introduction to UDP and TCP networking protocols. Covers shared concepts like IP addresses (IPv4 vs IPv6), ports, and loopback addresses, then explains the key differences: UDP is fast but unverified (useful for video streaming), while TCP uses a three-way handshake (SYN, SYN/ACK, ACK) to guarantee ordered, reliable delivery. Part of a broader networking fundamentals series that will continue with DHCP and DNS. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: --- Tags: [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/networking-101-udp-tcp-ffjmm0wgc) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Networking 101: UDP & TCP","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/networking-101-udp-tcp-ffjmm0wgc","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/networking-101-udp-tcp-ffjmm0wgc"},"datePublished":"2026-03-16T21:46:46.077Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T18:01:54.393Z","description":"A beginner-friendly introduction to UDP and TCP networking protocols. Covers shared concepts like IP addresses (IPv4 vs IPv6), ports, and loopback addresses,...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/98bef902a26a2e35e7a1022abf873ded?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/98bef902a26a2e35e7a1022abf873ded?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Playful Programming","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Corbin Crutchley","url":"https://daily.dev/crutchcorn","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/9100169?v=4","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"EndorseAction"},"userInteractionCount":400}},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/networking-101-udp-tcp-ffjmm0wgc","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"networking","timeRequired":"PT9M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Playful Programming","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/playfulprogramming"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Networking 101: UDP & TCP"}]} ```