Ask HN: How do you define the word “protocol”?

[vonklaus]

I an having trouble finding a definition for this word, which is super weird, as it is ubiquitous. Some have ranged from "procedure to call subprogram" to the broad "a system of communication".

How would you describe what a protocol is to someone not in the industry?

I know what a protocol is, but I want to know if there is a set of requirements or commonalities between all protocols and what are the "requirements".

[greenyoda]

Wikipedia has a pretty good article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol

It discusses the things that are common to all protocols: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol#Basic_...

[cylinder714]

When explaining email and the web to my mother, I define a protocol as "a language that computers use to talk to each other."