<ul data-eligibleForWebStory="true">Exploring network programming journey from TCP to application layer protocols is essential for juniors.Understanding TCP/IP stack foundation helps in building reliable network communication applications.Designing effective application layer protocols involves message framing, serialization, and security considerations.Optimizing performance via zero-copy operations, connection pooling, and asynchronous I/O is crucial.Network security, error handling, protocol evolution, testing, and modern trends are key aspects.