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UDP: When to Use It and Why

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UDP: simple by design

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is the simplest transport protocol: 8-byte header, send packets, no handshake, no acknowledgments, no ordering guarantees. This sounds like a weakness — but for many applications, it's a strength.

When the overhead of TCP reliability is worse than the cost of occasional loss, UDP wins: DNS, video streaming, VoIP, gaming, and now HTTP/3 via QUIC all run over UDP.

Packets in motion — click to inspect:

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