Networking-for-Developers

A Practical Guide to Computer Networking for Developers Software developers often design systems that communicate over a network, but the details of networking are easy to overlook. This guide offers practical ideas you can apply when building APIs, microservices, or mobile apps. You don’t need to master every standard, but a solid core helps you diagnose issues quickly and design reliable connections. Understanding the basics The Internet relies on a few core ideas. Two transport options exist: TCP, which provides reliability, and UDP, which is faster but less dependable. Most web apps use TCP. IP addresses identify devices, with IPv4 or IPv6, and private networks use special ranges behind NAT. DNS translates a domain into an IP, so your code can connect by name rather than a number. HTTP is a simple request/response protocol; HTTPS adds TLS to encrypt traffic and verify the server. ...