The '''Internet Protocol''', which controls how machines talk to and address each other.  Usually you have [TCP] or [UDP] layered over the top to provide port-based addressing and checksums...

The most common version of IP at the moment is version 4, though you may well also see version 6 about from time to time (mostly at very large ISPs though.)





[[Need more info on the difference between IPv4 and IPv6...]]


If you need to manipulate internet addresses, read [Handling internet addresses].
You may also be interested in the [DNS] page for turning hostnames into addresses.

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[[ [Category Acronym] || [Category Internet] ]]