What Is Advanced Program-to-Program Communication (APPC)?
Advanced Program-to-Program Communication (APPC) is like a secret handshake for applications. It's a protocol that lets apps talk to each other, so you can use your mobile phone or desktop computer to send a request to another program—like an online shopping site or travel app—and have it respond in kind. This is all possible because APPC works in the application layer of the OSI model, which means it's a way for applications themselves to communicate with each other over networks. APPC is explicitly designed for devices like desktop computers and mobile phones, but it isn't limited to those two things alone—it works on midrange computers, too! APPC is like the translator at a cocktail party who can speak every language and knows how to translate between them. If you need to send some data over a network, the APPC software will receive it, process it, then send it over a network adapter. The data is received by another network adapter and is given back to the APPC software, which translates it back into its original form before handing it to the corresponding partner application. APPC is like a teenager: it doesn't know what it wants, but it knows how. APPC was first introduced in the 1980s when IBM was still trying to figure out how best to incorporate networking into its products. At that point, most of the world's networks were still centralized—the host was in charge of managing sessions and resources for all clients. But APPC shifted control from the host to individual systems on the network—and this had significant implications for how companies used their computers. The shift from centralized hosts to distributed systems meant that companies could use their resources more efficiently and effectively. This was especially important when most companies were transitioning from mainframes to PCs and minicomputers; it told that companies didn't have to rely on centralized servers anymore, which meant more flexibility and less hassle for everyone involved!
Related Terms by IT Infrastructure
Join Our Newsletter
Get weekly news, engaging articles, and career tips-all free!
By subscribing to our newsletter, you're cool with our terms and conditions and agree to our Privacy Policy.



































