How do TCP and UDP differ in the way that they establish a connection between two endpoints?

While TCP uses synchronization (SYN) for connection setup and acknowledgments (ACK) for reliability, UDP is connectionless and does not use acknowledgment packets for establishing a connection or guaranteeing delivery.

SYN, SYN-ACK, and FIN bits are control flags used exclusively by TCP for connection establishment and termination, not by UDP, which is a connectionless protocol.

This statement is incorrect; TCP provides reliable, connection-oriented message transfer, whereas UDP is a connectionless protocol that does not guarantee message reliability.

TCP establishes a connection using a three-way handshake (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK) to ensure both endpoints are ready for reliable data transfer. In contrast, UDP is a connectionless protocol that sends datagrams without prior connection setup, and therefore does not guarantee message delivery, order, or duplication avoidance.