Stream Versus Packet — TCP/IP is a stream-oriented protocol, while UDP is a packet-oriented protocol. This means that TCP/IP is considered to be a long stream of data that is transmitted from one end of the connection to the other end, and another long stream of data flowing in the opposite direction. The TCP/IP stack is responsible for breaking the stream of data into packets and sending those packets while the stack at the other end is responsible for reassembling the packets into a data stream using information in the packet headers. UDP, on the other hand, is a packet-oriented protocol where the application itself divides the data into packets and sends them to the other end. The other end does not have to reassemble the data into a stream. Note, some applications might present the data as a stream when the underlying protocol is UDP. However, this is the layering of an additional protocol on top of UDP, and it is not something inherent in the UDP protocol itself.