What is a key characteristic of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP)?

The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is characterized by its ability to achieve higher speeds at the cost of reliability. This is primarily because UDP is a connectionless protocol, meaning it does not establish a connection before sending data. As a result, it can transmit packets more quickly than connection-oriented protocols like TCP.

UDP does not include mechanisms for error recovery, which means that if packets are lost or arrive out of order, there is no built-in way to correct this. This lack of reliability is what allows UDP to provide faster data transmission, making it ideal for applications where speed is critical and some data loss is acceptable, such as video streaming or online gaming.

In contrast, other protocols like TCP emphasize reliable data transmission, incorporating features to ensure that packets are delivered correctly and in sequence, which can introduce delays.