In telecommunications, message switching was the precursor of packet switching, where messages were routed in their entirety, one hop at a time. Message switching systems are nowadays mostly implemented over packet-switched or circuit-switched data networks. Telecommunication is the extension of communication over a distance. ... In computer networking and telecommunications, packet switching is a communications paradigm in which packets (messages or fragments of messages) are individually routed between nodes, with no previously established communication path. ... A computer network is a system for communication among two or more computers. ...

Hop-by-hop Telex forwarding and UUCP are examples of message switching systems. E-mail is another example of a message switching system. Teletype machines in World War II A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is a now largely obsolete electro-mechanical typewriter which can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point through a simple electrical communications channel, often just a pair of wires. ... UUCP stands for Unix to Unix CoPy, and is a computer program and protocol allowing remote execution of commands and transfer of files, email and netnews between Unix computers not connected to the Internet proper in a store and forward fashion. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

When this form of switching is used, no physical path is established in advance in between sender and reciever. Instead, when the sender has a block of data to be sent, it is stored in the first switching office (i.e. router) then forwarded later at one hop at a time. Each block is recieved in its entity form, inspected for errors and then forwarded or re-transmitted

to do: commercial message switching and routing systems

See also

• SMS
• circuit switching