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socketstcp

Will TCP connection lose packets?

Say Server S have a successful TCP connection with Client C.

C is keep sending 256-byte-long packets to S.

Is it possible that one of packets only receive part of it, but the connection does not break (Can continue receive new packets correctly)?

I thought TCP protocol itself will guarantee not lose any bytes while connecting. But seems not?

P.S. I'm using Python's socketserver library.

Solution

  • The TCP protocol does guarantee delivery. Thus (assuming there are no bugs in your code and in the TCP stack), the scenario you describe is impossible.

    Do bear in mind that TCP is stream- rather than packet-oriented. This means that you may need to call recv() multiple times to read the entire 256-byte packet.