TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) has been instrumental in shaping client-server communication on the internet in several ways:

1. Reliability: TCP ensures reliable data delivery. It breaks data into packets, assigns sequence numbers, and acknowledges the receipt of packets. If any packet gets lost or corrupted during transmission, TCP ensures retransmission, guaranteeing that data arrives intact and in the correct order.

2. Flow Control: It manages the flow of data between sender and receiver. TCP prevents overwhelming the receiver by implementing flow control mechanisms, ensuring that a fast sender does not inundate a slower receiver with more data than it can process.

3. Connection-oriented communication: TCP creates a connection between the client and server before data transmission. This connection-oriented approach establishes a reliable channel for information exchange, maintaining the session until both parties finish communicating.

4. Error Detection: TCP employs checksums to detect errors in transmitted data. By verifying the integrity of data at the receiving end, TCP ensures that corrupt or erroneous packets are identified and discarded, prompting retransmission.

5. Congestion Control: It helps manage network congestion by adapting the transmission rate based on network conditions. TCP monitors the network for signs of congestion and adjusts the data transmission rate accordingly to prevent network overload.

6. Suitability: TCP is the chosen method for building cross-platform client-server applications because it supports a large number of platforms and operating systems. It is also highly adaptable as it can support multiple client-server applications like file transfer, email, web applications to name a few. Due to its wide use, it is well-documented with well-defined rules, specifications and established standards.

7. Security: By combining it with SSL (Secure Socket Layer), the transmitted data can have an added layer of security.

Overall, TCP has played a pivotal role in enabling robust and dependable communication between clients and servers over the internet, forming the backbone of various applications and services that rely on stable data transmission.