Why would you choose the unreliable UDP protocol over TCP?
Compared to TCP, UDP seems less useful. It drops packets and provides no guidance on how fast packets should be sent. But there are some very important internet applications that can benefit from unreliable packet delivery and sometimes suffer due to TCP’s guarantees. Typical to the design of the rest of the internet, the overall goal is flexibility. UDP allows applications that do not need TCP’s guarantees to avoid them.
Credits: Talking: Geoffrey Challen (Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo). Producing: Greg Bunyea (Undergraduate, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo).
Part of the https://www.internet-class.org online internet course. A blue Systems Research Group (https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu) production.