Some caveats: FTP is older than IP, incompatible with modern network designs and firewalls, and is wildly insecure.
The FTP protocol connection design can’t be better suited for slamming into a firewall, too.
Outside of maybe very entrenched and intentionally very isolated SCADA or factory floor networks, or the dumbest of isolated and embedded devices in the range between {XMODEM/YMODEM/ZMODEM} and {USB and Ethernet}, and those cases where I’m pushing files to a purpose-designed FTP dropbox, most any configurations using FTP nowadays are best considered somewhere between overly-expedient, and foolish.
There’s a reason Apple yanked most of FTP.
If you’re learning about programming here, I’d wonder what other shortcuts or omissions or errors might exist in the syllabus.
For those cases where FTP is absolutely necessary, I use Finder and a command-line FTP client (homebrew or macports or otherwise), and always assume the FTP password is immediately compromised. Yes, it’s that insecure.
I’ll flag this FTP risk to the folks running the FTP server too, as a form of coverage for my posterior. And will help the site get either ftps or preferably an sftp server going, if the folks running the server want that.
While sftp shares three letters with FTP, it shares little else. It’s vastly easier to get sftp through firewalls, and sftp is vastly more secure.
