The internet is built on a set of protocols, the most important of which is the Internet Protocol (IP). IP is responsible for routing packets of data between devices on a network, such as your computer and a website's server.

  1. TCP and UDP are two important protocols that run on top of IP. TCP, or Transmission Control Protocol, is a connection-oriented protocol that ensures that data is delivered reliably and in the correct order.
  2. UDP, or User Datagram Protocol, is a connectionless protocol that is faster but less reliable than TCP.
  3. HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the protocol used for sending and receiving web pages. It is built on top of TCP and is responsible for the request-response model of the web.
  4. A client (such as your web browser) sends an HTTP request to a server, and the server responds with an HTTP response.
  5. Sockets are the endpoint of a two-way communication link between two programs running on a network. They provide a common interface for network communication, regardless of the underlying protocol (TCP or UDP).

Headers are a part of the packet that contain metadata about the packet, such as its source and destination addresses, the protocol it is using, and the size of the packet.

In addition to these protocols, there are other important protocols and technologies that make the internet work, such as DNS (Domain Name System), which translates human-readable domain names (like www.google.com) into IP addresses, and HTTPS (HTTP Secure), which encrypts data sent over the internet to prevent eavesdropping.