Understanding IPv4 Address Types

1. Loopback Addresses

Range: 127.0.0.0 - 127.255.255.255. Used for local testing.

Loopback addresses ensure network software works on the local machine without network traffic.

2. Private IP Addresses

Ranges: 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x - 172.31.x.x. Reserved for private networks.

Private IP addresses facilitate internal communication within organizations, not accessible from the internet.

3. Link-Local Addresses

Range: 169.254.x.x. Automatically assigned for local network communication.

Link-local addresses come into play when devices can't obtain an IP address through DHCP.

4. Multicast Addresses

Range: 224.x.x.x - 239.x.x.x. Used for one-to-many communication.

Multicast addresses enable efficient data distribution to multiple recipients simultaneously.

5. Broadcast Address

Typically 255.255.255.255. Broadcast to all devices on the local network.

The broadcast address is a way to send data to all devices on the same network segment.

6. Public Point-to-Point IPv4 Addresses

Any address outside the above ranges is a public IP for internet communication.

Public IPs are used for global internet communication between individual devices.

The InetAddress API helps classify IP addresses for network programming.