So, what's UDP?

What this foundational networking question tests

This is an easy question that establishes baseline familiarity with core internet protocols. Interviewers ask it to confirm you can distinguish between the two primary transport-layer protocols and understand their roles in modern systems.

UDP is fundamental to low-latency trading systems, market data feeds, and any application where speed matters more than guaranteed delivery. Knowing not just the acronym but also when and why UDP is chosen over its alternative is essential for anyone working on infrastructure or real-time systems at a quant firm.

• Transport-layer protocols and the OSI model
• Connectionless vs. connection-oriented communication
• Trade-offs between reliability and latency