CST 311 Weekly Journal #1

Weekly Journal

This week in my CST 311 class, I learned about the fundamentals of socket programming, focusing on both UDP and TCP protocols. I learned that each protocol operates differently, with UDP being faster, while TCP provides reliable and ordered data. Furthermore, I did a few lab exercises that helped me learn how to modify client and server code to implement socket communication and tested the programs in a Mininet virtual environment. This hands-on work gave me a better understanding of how data is transmitted across networks and how important it is to choose the right protocol based on the application's needs. In addition, I went on to learning key networking concepts, including the differences between transport-layer protocols, and how they handle packet loss. All in all, this was an interesting start to learning about networks and how they function. I gained a lot of insight into the trade-offs between speed and reliability in network communications and how protocols play a critical role in efficient data transmission across networks.