Network Protocol as an Agreed Message Format Between Two Endpoints
A network protocol is the agreement two communicating parties hold in common: the format of the messages they exchange, the order those messages may be sent in, and the action each message obliges its receiver to take. Because both endpoints run the same agreement independently, a message is interpretable to the receiver without any shared memory of how it was produced. After learning this a student can read a named protocol as a contract, say what its messages carry and what a peer must do on receipt, and distinguish the protocol from any one program that implements it.
Overview of Internet Communication Protocols in Computer Networking
Internet communication relies on a layered stack of standardized protocols, each defining formal rules for connection establishment, data delivery, addressing, or security, so that heterogeneous devi…