The Language of the Internet: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

This chapter explores the language and functions used in data communication and the Internet. Data communication, specifically over the Internet, has a language all its own. This language of the Internet, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), was developed as a universal language that would serve as a universal standard when possible to avoid all the pitfalls of picking any one proprietary system. The growth and popularity of the Internet has been due to many factors, but e-mail has certainly been the greatest contributor to its growth and the Internet’s most popular application. The language of the Internet, TCP/IP, is the most common and the oldest standardized routed protocol. The languages have become standardized, so they can be understood by many different vendors and computers. Understanding that people need to communicate over distances, and recognizing the lack of a routing language, IBM developed Systems Network Architecture as a protocol for networking.