byte stream
Data delivered as one continuous run of bytes, with no message boundaries kept.
A byte stream delivers bytes in order but keeps no boundaries between the writes that produced them, so an application must frame its own messages.
Examples
Two readings written over TCP may arrive as one chunk, or one reading split in two, because TCP keeps no message boundaries.
Putting a length in front of each JSON reading lets the receiver cut the byte stream back into whole messages.
See also