IRC Protocol
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based communication protocol designed for real-time group messaging over the internet. It enables users to join channels (chat rooms) for public discussions or engage in private conversations, supporting features like file transfers and server-to-server linking. Developed in 1988, it was widely used for community chat, technical support, and coordination in open-source projects before modern alternatives gained popularity.
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. 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as its simplicity (plain text over TCP) makes it a good educational tool for networking concepts, though it has largely been replaced by more feature-rich platforms like Slack or Discord for mainstream use.