Transmission Control Protocol, a core internet protocol that ensures reliable data transmission between computers.
Acronym formed in the 1970s from 'Transmission Control Protocol', developed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn as part of the internet protocol suite. The term 'protocol' comes from Greek 'protokollon' meaning 'first sheet glued to a manuscript'.
TCP is like the postal service of the internet - it breaks your data into packets, numbers them, sends them out, and reassembles them at the destination, even requesting retransmission of lost packets. Without TCP, we wouldn't have reliable web browsing, email, or file transfers.
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