Which statement describes the main difference between TCP and UDP as addressed in the material?

Which statement describes the main difference between TCP and UDP as addressed in the material?

• A. TCP is designed for reliability, while UDP prioritizes speed and does not guarantee delivery.
• B. TCP is connectionless and UDP is connection-oriented.
• C. TCP uses IP whereas UDP does not.
• D. TCP operates only on LAN, UDP only on WAN.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is the trade‑off between reliability and performance in transport protocols. TCP provides reliable, connection‑oriented delivery with mechanisms for ensuring data arrives correctly and in order, including acknowledgments, retransmission, and flow/congestion control. UDP, on the other hand, is a lightweight, connectionless protocol that sends datagrams with minimal overhead and no built‑in guarantees of delivery, order, or duplication protection. This is why the statement that TCP is designed for reliability while UDP prioritizes speed and does not guarantee delivery is the best description. The other options don’t fit because TCP is not connectionless (it’s connection‑oriented) and UDP is not connection‑oriented. Both TCP and UDP run over IP, so one does not “use IP” while the other does not. And neither protocol is limited to LAN or WAN; both can operate across local networks and wide areas depending on the routing.

The main idea here is the trade‑off between reliability and performance in transport protocols. TCP provides reliable, connection‑oriented delivery with mechanisms for ensuring data arrives correctly and in order, including acknowledgments, retransmission, and flow/congestion control. UDP, on the other hand, is a lightweight, connectionless protocol that sends datagrams with minimal overhead and no built‑in guarantees of delivery, order, or duplication protection. This is why the statement that TCP is designed for reliability while UDP prioritizes speed and does not guarantee delivery is the best description.

The other options don’t fit because TCP is not connectionless (it’s connection‑oriented) and UDP is not connection‑oriented. Both TCP and UDP run over IP, so one does not “use IP” while the other does not. And neither protocol is limited to LAN or WAN; both can operate across local networks and wide areas depending on the routing.