View source for Stateless protocol

In [[computing]], a '''stateless protocol''' is a [[communications protocol]] in which no information is retained by either sender or receiver. The sender transmits a packet (a [[Request (computing)|request]]) to the receiver and does not expect an acknowledgment of receipt. Each [[Request (computing)|request]] as an independent transaction that is unrelated to any previous request so that the [[communication]] consists of independent pairs of [[Request (computing)|request]] and [[Response (computing)|response]].

Examples of stateless protocols include the Internet Protocol (IP), which is the foundation for the Internet, and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.

A stateless protocol does not require the [[server (computing)|server]] to retain session information or status about each communications partner for the duration of multiple requests.

Examples of stateless protocols include:

* [[Internet Protocol]] (IP) which is the foundation for the [[Internet]]
* [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP) which is the foundation of data communication for the [[World Wide Web]].
* A [[User Datagram Protocol|UDP]] connection-oriented session is a stateless connection because neither system maintains information about the session during its life

== Simplified server design ==

The stateless design simplifies the [[server (computing)|server]] design because there is no need to dynamically allocate storage to deal with conversations in progress.

If a [[client session]] dies in mid-transaction, no part of the system needs to be responsible for cleaning up the present state of the server.

== Disadvantages ==

A disadvantage of statelessness is that it may be necessary to include additional information in every request, and this extra information will need to be interpreted by the server.

== Stateful protocols ==

A communications protocol which requires keeping of the internal state on the server is known as a [[stateful protocol]].

A [[TCP]] connection-oriented session is a 'stateful' connection because both systems maintain information about the session itself during its life.

== See also ==

* [[Client-server model]]
* [[Computer science]]
* [[Communications protocol]]
* [[Computing]]
* [[HATEOAS]]
* [[Request (computing)]]
* [[Response (computing)]]
* [[Session (computer science)]]
* [[Soft state]]

== External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stateless_protocol Stateless protocol]


[[Category:Client-server model]]
[[Category:Computing]]