IP stands for Internet Protocol, which is basically the rules for how computers talk to each other over networks.
It’s like a phone number for devices connected to the internet, each device gets its unique ID called an IP address when they’re talking to each other.
There are two main versions of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6.

IPv4

IPv4 uses a 32-bit address system, typically shown as four decimal numbers separated by dots.
It can assign around 4.3 billion unique addresses.
However, because of the internet’s growth and more devices connecting, we’re running out of IPv4 addresses.

IPv6

So, IPv6 was introduced.
It uses a 128-bit address system, usually written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons, allowing for approximately 3.4*10^38 unique addresses.

Public IP addresses

Public IP addresses are directly accessible on the internet.
They’re assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and are used by devices like servers and public routers.

Private IP addresses

Private IP addresses, on the other hand, are used within private or local networks.
They’re not directly accessible from the public internet and are commonly used within homes or businesses.
To deal with the shortage of IPv4 addresses, private IP addresses are often used within networks, usually within specific ranges like 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16.
Networks using private IP addresses can still connect to the internet through NAT (Network Address Translation).