In today’s world, everything is digitized, and it makes our life much easier and simpler. Living and enjoying all the digital comforts is all we do. We also have to clearly understand and know the terminologies that are used.
Especially internet is a huge international network that is vast than what our brain can imagine. There are a lot of extensions, protocols, and several other terms we use.
Key Takeaways
- TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a transport layer protocol for reliable data transmission. At the same time, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol used for communication between web servers and clients.
- TCP ensures that data is delivered reliably and in order, while HTTP provides rules for formatting and transmitting web pages and handling user requests and responses.
- TCP operates at a lower level than HTTP, as it is responsible for reliable data delivery over the network. In contrast, HTTP is specifically designed for communication between web servers and clients.
TCP vs HTTP
The difference between TCP and HTTP is that TCP is an abbreviation of a commonly used protocol that ensures the proper delivery of data, whereas HTTP is used to search and fetch the desired documents on the internet. Both of these are computer protocols but, they are used in completely different places and for different purposes.
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TCP stands for transmission control protocol which recognizes and establishes a connection until the data at one end securely reaches the data at the other end.
The main job of this protocol is to divide or break down the transferred data into small packets. It ensures that the data packets are sent to the transport layer.
HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol, and it is one of the frequently and vastly used computer protocols.
When you use this protocol while browsing on the internet, it helps you to search and provide you with the resources and documents that you are looking for. This protocol helps the user to browse and fetch information.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | TCP | HTTP |
|---|---|---|
| Abbreviation | TCP is the acronym for the transmission control protocol. As the name suggests, it takes care of the transmission of data from one end to the other. | HTTP is the acronym for Hypertext transfer protocol, and it helps in giving the user the fetched resources and documents from the web. |
| Purpose | TCP is an interface protocol that activates the data transmission process between the server and the client. | HTTP is the ultimate protocol that enables the user to search all the resources and obtain the information they need. |
| Port | TCP does not require any port to do its job. | HTTP makes use of the port with number 80 to fetch the resources from the web. |
| Communication | TCP operates as a three-way communication protocol. | HTTP is a single-way protocol. |
| Speed | TCP operates relatively slow. | HTTP operates at a much higher speed and does the process immediately. |
What is TCP?
The transmission control protocol is used with the combination of IP so that the connection between the server and the client is established and the process is intact. The process by which the TCP works is as follows.
When TCP is invoked, it identifies the message and the very first step is that in which it establishes a 3-way communication which is commonly said that the 3-way handshake is made.
The source initially sends the request packet to the target so that the communication procedure starts. The destination server, in return, sends an ACK packet as a response to emphasize that it agrees and accepts the communication.
Now the data that is to be transmitted is decided into several small packets. Each packet is transmitted to the destination server. When these packets are exposed to being transmitted, they have to tackle to surpass a series of security gateways before it reaches the final target server.
At the other end of the destination server, the packets into which the data was initially divide are again put together and assembled to form the meaningful message, information, or data that was to be transmitted.
What is HTTP?
The operation of the world wide web has been simplified and eased entirely by the use of the hypertext transfer protocol. Loading web pages and finding the matching resources and the documents that you need are done by these protocols.
Transfer and identify information between the networked devices are the function of this protocol. This is a single way of communication in which the user sends a request, and the server identifies and responds to the request.
To load a website on the web page, you need to call this protocol by typing it along with the search URL.
Along with this protocol, a set of defined data is sent to the web browser so that it can clearly process the data and provide us with the requested data.GET and POST are the frequently used HTTP methods.
GET method specifies that an immediate response is expected, whereas the POST specifies that the user is producing some information to the server.
There are two main parts in the operation of HTTP, HTTP request and the HTTP response. The HTTP request is the one made by the user or the client, and the response is the information that the server provides the client with.
Main Differences Between TCP and HTTP
- TCP can function with the help of TCP 40, whereas HTTP does not depend on any authentication.
- TCP is responsible for establishing session connection, whereas HTTP is responsible for establishing a link communication.
- TCP is found in the IP address pin, but the HTTP appears in the search URL.
- TCP is best suited for data transfer, whereas HTTP is suitable to operate on small processes like browsing web pages.
- The operation process of TCP takes longer than the process of operation of HTTP.
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
