Explain the concept of circuit and packet switching

Explain the concept of circuit and packet switching with an example.

In Circuit Switching, a dedicated communication path is established between two devices for the transmission of data before the devices may communicate. This communication path is reserved between two end devices for the duration of communication session. The whole capacity of this path is only used for the data transmission between these devices. Circuit-switching is ideal when data must be transmitted quickly and must arrive in the same order in which it's sent.

A famous example of this technique is telephone networkWhen a call is made from one telephone to another, switches within the telephone exchanges create a continuous wire circuit between the two telephones, for as long as the call lasts.

In packet switching messages are divided into packets before they are sent. Each packet is then transmitted individually and can even follow different routes to its destination. Once all the packets forming a message arrive at the destination, they are recompiled into the original message. Computer to computer communication is the example of this technique.