4.2.2. DHCP

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.
It is a layer III protocol used to assign IP addresses to computers which connect to the net.
Additionally, DHCP is used to inform the computer about other details of the network, such as the DNS and gateway IPs.
More details about DHCP in Linux are available in the DHCP HOWTO.
DHCP-configured connections will usually "just work" if you will select "automatically configure" in your distro network setup.