When Rapid PVST+ is used, which STP state do ports always enter immediately after the switch boots?

When a switch running Rapid PVST+ boots up, all ports initially enter the discarding state. This state combines the traditional STP disabled, blocking, and listening states. In discarding, the port does not forward frames and does not learn MAC addresses. This is a crucial initial step to prevent loops while the STP convergence process begins. Forwarding is incorrect because ports only enter this state after successfully completing the STP convergence and being deemed safe to send and receive traffic. Listening and learning are states from traditional STP (802.1D) that are consolidated into the discarding state in Rapid PVST+ (802.1w). Rapid PVST+ uses a two-state model: discarding and forwarding, with an intermediate learning state that ports briefly enter before forwarding.