Explain the difference between a socket and a TCP port

A socket is an endpoint of two-way communication between two programs running on a network. It is a combination of an IP address and a port number. A socket can be used in both TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) protocols.

A TCP port, on the other hand, is a number that identifies a specific process to which network traffic should be directed within a computer network. It is a communication endpoint associated with a particular IP address and protocol used in the transport layer of the OSI model. TCP ports are used only in TCP protocol.

In summary, a socket is a combination of an IP address and a port number used in both TCP and UDP protocols while a TCP port is only used in the TCP protocol to identify a specific process.