The application layer

The top most layer of the network stack is also the layer that most developers will interact with over the course of their careers. The application layer provides the highest-level interface for interaction with network communication. This is the layer that business application software uses to interact with the rest of the stack. There are a number of protocols leveraged by entities on the application layer, and we'll discuss them later in this chapter. For now though, it's only important to remember that the application layer serves as the access point between actual end user applications and the OSI network stack.