IRC Protocol vs Discord

Developers should learn IRC for historical context in internet communication and to engage with legacy or niche communities, such as certain open-source projects or gaming groups that still use it meets developers should learn discord for building and engaging with communities, such as open-source projects, tech support groups, or online learning environments. Here's our take.

IRC Protocol

Nice Pick

Developers should learn IRC for historical context in internet communication and to engage with legacy or niche communities, such as certain open-source projects or gaming groups that still use it

Pros

• It's useful for understanding basic chat protocol design, as its simplicity (plain text over TCP) makes it a good educational tool for networking concepts, though it has largely been replaced by more feature-rich platforms like Slack or Discord for mainstream use
• Related to: tcp-ip, networking

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Discord

Developers should learn Discord for building and engaging with communities, such as open-source projects, tech support groups, or online learning environments

Pros

• It's particularly useful for real-time collaboration, hosting developer meetups, and integrating with development tools via bots and webhooks
• Related to: discord-api, discord-bots

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. IRC Protocol is a protocol while Discord is a platform. We picked IRC Protocol based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

IRC Protocol wins

Based on overall popularity. IRC Protocol is more widely used, but Discord excels in its own space.