===== Wire Protocol =====
[[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:start| Return to Glossary ]]

**Wire Protocol** refers to a way of getting data from [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:p:point-to-point|point-to-point]]: A Wire [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:p:protocol]] is needed if more than one [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:a:application|application]] has to interoperate. It generally refers to protocols higher than the [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:p:physicallayer|physical layer]]. In contrast to transport protocols at the transport level (like [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:t:tcp]] or [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:u:udp]]), the term "wire protocol" is used to describe a common way to represent information at the Application Level of the [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:o:osi]]. It refers only to a common [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:a:applayer]] protocol and not to a common object semantic[clarification needed] of the applications. Such a representation at application level needs a common [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:x:xml_infoset]]  and a data binding (using e.g. a common encoding scheme like [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:x:xsd]]).

It generally refers to higher layers, including [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:e:ethernet|Ethernet]] and ATM (layer 2) and even higher layer distributed [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:o:object|object]] protocols such as [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:s:soap]], [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:c:corba|CORBA]] or RMI. 

The Wire Protocol may be either text-based or a binary protocol. Although an important architectural decision, this is a separate matter from the distinction between Wire Protocols and programmatic [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:a:api| Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)]]. 

Source: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_protocol | Wire Protocol ]]