does anyone have a good definition for what a binary protocol is? and what is a text protocol actually? how do these compare to each other in terms of bits sent on the wire?

here's what wikipedia says about binary protocols:

A binary protocol is a protocol which is intended or expected to be read by a machine rather than a human being (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_protocol)

oh come on!

to be more clear, if I have jpg file how would that be sent through a binary protocol and how through a text one? in terms of bits/bytes sent on the wire of course.

at the end of the day if you look at a string it is itself an array of bytes so the distinction between the 2 protocols should rest on what actual data is being sent on the wire. in other words, on how the initial data (jpg file) is encoded before being sent.

any coments are apprecited, I am trying to get to the essence of things here.

salutations!