User Datagram Protocol
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J. Postel · 1980-08
Abstract
UDP provides a simple, connectionless datagram service for use in packet-switched networks. It offers minimal protocol mechanism — no reliability, ordering, or flow control — allowing applications to exchange datagrams with a maximum of simplicity.
Why This RFC Matters
RFC 768 defined UDP in just three pages, making it one of the most concise protocol specifications in IETF history. Its deliberate minimalism was a design choice: by omitting retransmission, sequencing, and connection management, UDP provides the lowest possible overhead for applications that can tolerate or recover from packet loss on their own. This trade-off proved prescient — DNS, DHCP, NTP, streaming media, online gaming, and now QUIC all rely on UDP because latency matters more than guaranteed delivery. Without RFC 768, the modern real-time internet would not exist.