PROTOCOL

Any formal description of message formats and the rules two computers must follow to exchange those messages. Protocols can describe low-level details of machine-to-machine interfaces (e.g., the order in which bits and bytes are sent across a wire) or high-level exchanges between allocation programs (e.g., the way in which two programs transfer a file across the Internet). Files on the Internet are transferred via what is known as FTP File Transfer Protocol. See World Wide Web for the common http protocol . See Internet Messaging for common protocols for sending messages across the Internet. (See also FTP and File transfer )