NOTE: Catch up with the previous posts in this post series:

Part 1: Overview

Part 2: Application and Transport layers

NOTE: Catch up with the previous posts in this post series: Part 1: Overview

The Network Stack has four layers: Application, Transport, Network (or Internet) and Physical. This post will cover the top two layers: Application and Transport and together they help the destination computer identify what type of data it’s receiving through the network.

For some reason grasping the concepts around computer networks has always been hard for me. Not surprisingly, I find that I’m not the only one: many software developers don’t really understand how computers networks… work. All I know is that I send stuff via the internet and my stuff gets where I wanted it to go. But how does that happen? Magic?