application layer
Sign in to saveAlso known as OSI layer 7, layer 7
Highest layer of a networked communication model
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
An application layer is an abstraction layer that specifies the shared communication protocols and interface methods used by hosts in a communications network. An application layer abstraction is specified in both the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) and the OSI model. Although both models use the same term for their respective highest-level layer, the detailed definitions and purposes are different.
Historical and conceptual perspective
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “application layer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.