How do TCP and UDP differ in connection behavior?
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Correct answer: TCP establishes a connection before sending; UDP sends immediately without one.
Why this is the answer
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a connection-oriented protocol. This means it establishes a three-way handshake (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK) to set up a reliable connection between two hosts before any data is transmitted. This ensures that both sides are ready to communicate. UDP (User Datagram Protocol), conversely, is connectionless. It simply sends data packets (datagrams) to the destination without any prior setup or guarantee that the receiver is listening or even exists. This makes UDP faster but less reliable. The other options are incorrect: TCP uses sequencing and acknowledgments for reliability, while UDP does not. TCP ensures in-order delivery, retransmitting out-of-order or missing segments. UDP does not guarantee order. TCP performs error recovery through retransmissions. UDP only detects errors via checksums but does not recover from them.
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