Full form of IP is Internet Protocol.

Every machine on the web features a unique identifying number called an IP Address. IP stands for Internet Protocol, which is that the language that computers use to speak over the web . A typical IP address looks like 216.28.62.135. 

A Protocol may be a set of rules which the computers use to speak with one another .

IP (Internet Protocol) is for communication between computers. IP is a "connection - less" communication protocol. IP does not occupy the communication line between any two computers. IP reduces the need for network lines. Each line can be used for communication between many different computer at the same time. 

With IP, messages (or other data) are broken up into small independent "packets" and sent between computer via the Internet.

A packet is a block of data of definite size. A packet may be a sequence of bytes and consists of a header followed by a body. The header describes the packets destination. The body contains the info which IP is transmitting.

The two main functions of Internet Protocol (IP) are addressing and routing. It assigns address on the data packets and then sends the packets over the network. Sending of packets Internet using TCP/IP is called routing.