Understanding packets

Packets are fundamental building blocks of communication over the network using the UDP protocol. They are small chunks of data that contain all the necessary information to reach their intended recipient. This includes the sender’s and receiver’s IP addresses, the communication port, and the message’s content.

Senders send packets to the receiver over the network. The receiving end reassembles the packets, allowing the receiver to understand the message sent. This process is known as packet switching. You can see a visual representation of this here:

Figure 2.1 – Packet switching process

Unlike other protocols, such as the TCP protocol, the UDP protocol does not guarantee that packets will arrive in the same order as they were sent. This means that the protocol is less reliable but more efficient and faster.

UDP is also different from other protocols due to its lack of connection state. Each packet...