Connectionless Architecture
Connectionless architecture is a network communication model where data packets are sent independently without establishing a dedicated end-to-end connection beforehand. Each packet contains full addressing information and is routed separately, often using protocols like UDP (User Datagram Protocol). This approach contrasts with connection-oriented models like TCP, prioritizing speed and simplicity over reliability and ordered delivery.
Developers should learn connectionless architecture for scenarios requiring low-latency, real-time communication, such as online gaming, VoIP, live streaming, or IoT sensor data transmission. It's ideal when occasional packet loss is acceptable, and overhead from connection setup and maintenance must be minimized, making it efficient for broadcast or multicast applications where reliability can be handled at the application layer if needed.