Networking Basics

Computers running on the Internet communicate to each other using either the Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) or the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), as this diagram illustrates:

When you write Java programs that communicate over the network, you are programming at the
application layer. Typically, you don't need to concern yourself with the TCP and UDP layers.
Instead, you can use the classes in the java.net package. These classes provide system-
independent network communication. However, to decide which Java classes your programs
should use, you do need to understand how TCP and UDP differ.

TCP

When two applications want to communicate to each other reliably, they establish a connection
and send data back and forth over that connection. This is analogous to making a telephone call.
If you want to speak to Aunt Beatrice in Kentucky, a connection is established when you dial her
phone number and she answers. You send data back and forth over the connection by speaking to
one another over the phone lines. Like the phone company, TCP guarantees that data sent from
one end of the connection actually gets to the other end and in the same order it was sent.
Otherwise, an error is reported.

TCP provides a point-to-point channel for applications that require reliable communications. The
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Telnet are all examples
of applications that require a reliable communication channel. The order in which the data is sent
and received over the network is critical to the success of these applications. When HTTP is used
to read from a URL, the data must be received in the order in which it was sent. Otherwise, you
end up with a jumbled HTML file, a corrupt zip file, or some other invalid information.

Definition:  TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a connection-based protocol that provides a

UDP

The UDP protocol provides for communication that is not guaranteed between two applications
on the network. UDP is not connection-based like TCP. Rather, it sends independent packets of
data, called datagrams, from one application to another. Sending datagrams is much like sending
a letter through the postal service: The order of delivery is not important and is not guaranteed,
and each message is independent of any other.

Definition:  UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a protocol that sends independent packets of
data, called datagrams, from one computer to another with no guarantees about arrival. UDP is
not connection-based like TCP.

For many applications, the guarantee of reliability is critical to the success of the transfer of
information from one end of the connection to the other. However, other forms of
communication don't require such strict standards. In fact, they may be slowed down by the extra
overhead or the reliable connection may invalidate the service altogether.

Consider, for example, a clock server that sends the current time to its client when requested to
do so. If the client misses a packet, it doesn't really make sense to resend it because the time will
be incorrect when the client receives it on the second try. If the client makes two requests and
receives packets from the server out of order, it doesn't really matter because the client can figure
out that the packets are out of order and make another request. The reliability of TCP is
unnecessary in this instance because it causes performance degradation and may hinder the
usefulness of the service.

Another example of a service that doesn't need the guarantee of a reliable channel is the ping
command. The purpose of the ping command is to test the communication between two
programs over the network. In fact, ping needs to know about dropped or out-of-order packets to
determine how good or bad the connection is. A reliable channel would invalidate this service
altogether.

The UDP protocol provides for communication that is not guaranteed between two applications
on the network. UDP is not connection-based like TCP. Rather, it sends independent packets of
data from one application to another. Sending datagrams is much like sending a letter through the
mail service: The order of delivery is not important and is not guaranteed, and each message is
independent of any others.

Note:  Many firewalls and routers have been configured not to allow UDP packets. If you're
having trouble connecting to a service outside your firewall, or if clients are having trouble
connecting to your service, ask your system administrator if UDP is permitted.

Understanding Ports

Generally speaking, a computer has a single physical connection to the network. All data
destined for a particular computer arrives through that connection. However, the data may be
intended for different applications running on the computer. So how does the computer know to
which application to forward the data? Through the use of ports.
Data transmitted over the Internet is accompanied by addressing information that identifies the
computer and the port for which it is destined. The computer is identified by its 32-bit IP
address, which IP uses to deliver data to the right computer on the network. Ports are identified
by a 16-bit number, which TCP and UDP use to deliver the data to the right application.

In connection-based communication such as TCP, a server application binds a socket to a

Definition:  The TCP and UDP protocols use ports to map incoming data to a particular process
running on a computer.

In datagram-based communication such as UDP, the datagram packet contains the port number
of its destination and UDP routes the packet to the appropriate application, as illustrated in this
figure:

Port numbers range from 0 to 65,535 because ports are represented by 16-bit numbers. The port
numbers ranging from 0 - 1023 are restricted; they are reserved for use by well-known services
such as HTTP and FTP and other system services. These ports are called well-known ports. Your
applications should not attempt to bind to them.

Networking Classes in the JDK

Through the classes in java.net, Java programs can use TCP or UDP to communicate over the
Internet. The URL, URLConnection, Socket, and ServerSocket classes all use TCP to
communicate over the network. The DatagramPacket, DatagramSocket, and MulticastSocket
classes are for use with UDP