What is an "application layer protocol" in the context of IRC?
reddit / irc

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How_To_IRC · 2023-10-21 18:23

so i'm reading wikipedias definition of internet relay chat

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet\_Relay\_Chat](https://en.wikip
edia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat)

and it says

"Internet Relay Chat is implemented as an [application
layer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_layer) protocol to
facilitate communication in the form of text."

what is that? what is an "application layer protocol" and what does it
mean in the context of IRC?

thank you

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PrincipallyMaoism · 2023-10-21 18:49

It is an application layer protocol because it describes the intended
behavior of application-using clients in their connection and
communication methods.

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LameBMX · 2023-10-21 19:24

wiki for the OSI seven layer model... or maybe it's six layers.

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pengo · 2023-10-22 00:30

It's some jargon that means it's a protocol that uses TCP/IP as
opposed to being a protocol along side TCP/IP.

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mazter00 · 2023-10-22 15:17

Doesn't mean RFC? No? Would be my suggestion, but probably TCP/IP.

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IBNash · 2023-10-22 16:29

Lookup OSI model

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How_To_IRC · 2023-10-24 14:32

>It is an application layer protocol

i don't dispute that it IS an application layer protocol,

what i'm confused about is what an application layer protocol is and
what it means in the context of IRC,

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PrincipallyMaoism · 2023-10-24 14:33

I told you already. An application layer protocol describes how an
application behaves.

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How_To_IRC · 2023-10-24 15:18

> An application layer protocol describes how an application behaves.

so it's like a document? it's like a big book explaining how an
application behaves?

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PrincipallyMaoism · 2023-10-24 15:25

It is referring to the RFCs and documents that define the IRC
operation standard, yes. https://ircdocs.horse/

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How_To_IRC · 2023-10-24 15:27

>It is referring to

what is referring to?

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PrincipallyMaoism · 2023-10-24 15:35

Application Layer alludes to the OSI model (7 layers) or its
practical/real-implementation counterpart which is the TCP/IP model (4
layers).

A protocol is just a set of "rituals" that accomplish some goal. An
application layer protocol is one which operates at the highest layer
of the aforementioned models.

Application is what end-users interact with. Application layer is all
that code which faciliates such end-user interaction.

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reercalium2 · 2023-10-24 16:16

An application is something you use the computer for, like chat.

IRC is a chat protocol.

The opposite is like a network protocol. You don't use your computer
for network - the network helps you do other stuff.

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HWBTUW · 2023-10-25 02:34

IRC is concerned with what messages IRC clients and servers should
send to each other and how they should react to such messages.  For
example, if I were to try to kick you from a channel we shared, my
client should send the server it is connected to a message like `KICK
#redditirc How_To_IRC :some explanation`, and that server should then
check to see if I had such permissions, and then (assuming I had the
required permissions) remove you from the channel locally and pass on
the message `:HWBTUW KICK #redditirc How_To_IRC :some explanation` so
the kick could be propagated through the network.  *How* does that
message get from my client to the server, or from one server to
another?  The IRC protocol has nothing to say about this.  It will
happen *somehow*, and the details are a matter for other protocols
that work at lower layers.  This is considered the highest layer of
abstraction in networking models, and termed the "application layer"
because it deals with user-facing programs (or "applications").