Key Differences Between TCP and UDP

Here are the key differences between TCP and UDP : ==Connection type==: TCP is connection oriented , while UDP is connectionless . ==Reliability==: TCP provides reliability , while UDP provides no guarantees (it’s “no...

Here are the key differences between TCP and UDP : ==Connection type==: TCP is connection oriented , while UDP is connectionless . ==Reliability==: TCP provides reliability , while UDP provides no guarantees (it’s “no guarantees”). ==Ordering==: TCP is ordered , while UDP is unordered . ==Congestion control==: TCP includes congestion control , while UDP does not get that TCP style congestion control behavior. ==Overhead / latency / handshake==: UDP is faster and has no handshake (low latency), whereas TCP uses a handshake to establish the connection. , [‌:cite[1]{ln=1}‌] ==Typical use cases==: UDP is often used for DNS, VoIP, and streaming (and also listed for DNS, video, VoIP, QUIC ). , [‌:cite[1]{ln=1}‌] ==Packet delivery behavior==: With UDP , there are no retransmits (so dropped packets aren’t automatically resent). [‌:cite[1]{ln=1}‌] Quick takeaway: Choose TCP when you need ordered, reliable delivery. Choose UDP when you care more about low latency and can tolerate occasional loss or out of order delivery. , [‌:cite[1]{ln=1}‌]