**Explaining 8 Popular Network Protocols in 1 Diagram**. You can find the link to watch a detailed video explanation at the end of the post.

Network protocols are standard methods of transferring data between two computers in a network.

**1. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)**
HTTP is a protocol for fetching resources such as HTML documents. It is the foundation of any data exchange on the Web and it is a client-server protocol.

**2. HTTP/3**
HTTP/3 is the next major revision of the HTTP. It runs on QUIC, a new transport protocol designed for mobile-heavy internet usage. It relies on UDP instead of TCP, which enables faster web page responsiveness. VR applications demand more bandwidth to render intricate details of a virtual scene and will likely benefit from migrating to HTTP/3 powered by QUIC.

**3. HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure)**
HTTPS extends HTTP and uses encryption for secure communications.

**4. WebSocket**
WebSocket is a protocol that provides full-duplex communications over TCP. Clients establish WebSockets to receive real-time updates from the back-end services. Unlike REST, which always “pulls” data, WebSocket enables data to be “pushed”. Applications, like online gaming, stock trading, and messaging apps leverage WebSocket for real-time communication.

**5. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)**
TCP is designed to send packets across the internet and ensure the successful delivery of data and messages over networks. Many application-layer protocols are built on top of TCP.

**6. UDP (User Datagram Protocol)**
UDP sends packets directly to a target computer, without establishing a connection first. UDP is commonly used in time-sensitive communications where occasionally dropping packets is better than waiting. Voice and video traffic are often sent using this protocol.

**7. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)**
SMTP is a standard protocol to transfer electronic mail from one user to another.

**8. FTP (File Transfer Protocol)**
FTP is used to transfer computer files between client and server. It has separate connections for the control channel and data channel.

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