If you work anywhere near IT equipment, you’ve seen this word plastered almost everywhere. Perhaps even more so when it comes to Networking and Software Development.

So what exactly is a Protocol?

Let’s start by looking at the dictionary definition of the word:

“The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions”

This essentially means a set of rules governing something. Let us make this a bit more practical to us.

Scenario:

Imagine 2 people speaking to each other.

The first, who we will call A is telling the second, who we will name as B (I’m not the most imaginative person, you can tell!) about his trip to Paris.

A would find it rude and probably not talk to B if B turned his back to him. I mean … wouldn’t you feel the same?

So we can implicitly understand that for this conversation to happen, it’s a given that both parties must be facing each other.

Now if A got a phone call in the middle of this conversation, picked up and starting taking, completely ignoring B, then B would find this rude and would stop the interaction right there. Both people must be giving each other attention for the conversation to continue.

In addition, our two friends would also have to be speaking the same language for this conversation to be understood (or at least a language they both understand).

Finally, for this to be a successful conversation, both A and B would have to give each other time to speak – there couldn’t be a conversation if they were both talking at the same time!

So for this conversation to happen normally, we have established that:

1. Both people must be facing each other
2. Both people must give their full attention to the other
3. They should both be speaking the same language
4. Neither A nor B should interrupt the other while speaking

And there you go. We have just established our very own speech protocol! We’ve understood that for both A and B to communicate, there are conditions and parameters they must adhere to.

Different types of Protocols

Now you may ask, why are there so many different types of Protocol, and why can’t we have one, single protocol for all types of communication?

Let’s answer this by looking at the protocols we established for communication earlier:

1. Both people must be facing each other
2. Both people must give their full attention to the other
3. They should both be speaking the same language
4. Neither A nor B should interrupt the other while speaking

If A and B were speaking on the phone,  would this fit our Protocol?

1. Both people must be facing each other [NO]
2. Both people must give their full attention to the other [YES]
3. They should both be speaking the same language [YES]
4. Neither A nor B should interrupt the other while speaking [YES]

Since the full set of rules were not followed, the protocol doesn’t work here and will have to be changed and adapted for speaking on the phone.

This is exactly why we have different protocols for different scenarios, programs and applications.

Below are a few examples of some common Protocols and their uses:

• FTP [File Transfer Protocol] – Used to transmit files
• HTTP [Hypertext Transfer Protocol] – Used to transmit and display web pages
• NTP [Network Time Protocol] – Synchronises time across networks

I hope this helps.