What is the primary purpose of a Transport Layer protocol?

The primary purpose of a Transport Layer protocol is to transmit messages from process to process. This layer is responsible for ensuring reliable data transfer between applications running on different devices across a network. It establishes connections, manages data flow control, and handles error detection and correction, ensuring that the data is delivered accurately and in the correct order to the receiving application.

Transport Layer protocols, such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol), facilitate communication between processes by providing logical communication between application endpoints. This is crucial for applications that require consistent data exchange, allowing the processes on different machines to communicate seamlessly as though they were on the same device.

Understanding this function highlights the critical role of the Transport Layer in network communication, distinguishing it from other layers which focus on routing, interface management, or data formatting.