Web Fundamentals: The ELI5 Guide
What even is the internet?, Is there intelligent life in the universe, does pineapple go with pizza?. These are some of the biggest questions facing humanity as a species.
We haven’t developed technology to travel at the speed of light and explore other planets so I can’t tell you if there is intelligent life in the universe (There isn’t on planet Earth), and pineapple in pizza is just an easy NO.
What I can attempt to discuss is “What is the internet”, as I take you on an introductory journey through the fundamentals of the web with 21 questions (Get it?).
Q1: What is a network ? Put simply, a network is group or system of interconnected people or things. Usually the goal of creating a network is to communicate. Whether it’s to send text messages across two people, share your opinion about the latest celebrity controversy with your 13 followers on Twitter or connect two computers to share files, any form of connection across two or more parties is a network.
When talking computer networks, we mean the connection that exists between two or more devices usually through WiFi, bluetooth, wires, or the internet. Speaking of which…
Q2: What is the internet? The page you are on now… Well technically. The page you are on now is on the “WEB” which itself is on the internet as illustrated below.
The internet is a connection of networks, Inter = “between two or more things, Net = Network which makes the internet the network of networks. The web as we know it is only one of the many communication protocols on the internet that is used to share and access data online in the form of websites and hyperlinks. There are other communication protocols on the internet including VOIP, Gopher, FTP, SMTP, and ARPAnet used to share different types of data including voice, email, and and big data.
The internet existed before the web and would be fine if we moved all the websites we used off the internet.
Q3: What is the web? Q4: What is the difference between the internet and the web: The thing we are on now. Facebook.com, Twitter.com, and that shady website with unskippable ads that promises to introduce you to sexy singles in your area as you try to download 240p quality movies. That’s the web.
The web is a communication protocol built on the internet by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 (I know right?) which is accessible via URLs. The distinguishing feature of the Web is the hypertext links which enable users search for information by moving from one document (website) to another.
So next time please say you are going on the web not the internet. You’re welcome.
Q5: What is a server? ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶u̶y̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶r̶i̶d̶i̶c̶u̶l̶o̶u̶s̶l̶y̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶e̶n̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶t̶au̶r̶a̶n̶t̶.
Servers are computers that hold information (movies, text, images) and send them to requesting computers through a complex protocol.
Sticking with the restaurant theme, let’s imagine the web is a restaurant. You place an order (enter a facebook.com into your browser), and the food(the Facebook homepage) comes from the kitchen(server) to you. The server is where the website you are trying to access is stored. It’s a little more complex than that but it is important to know that information on the web has to be stored somewhere and servers are the place where websites and all their contents are stored.
Q6: What is a client? You. Technically, your device, specifically the browser or any application that requests internet access is a client.
We talked about servers in the last question so who is at the other end? The client. The client is the requesting computer in the client-server relationship. Let’s beat that kitchen example into the ground (Last time I promise). If the kitchen is the client, and it’s sending you food(data), you are the client in that instance.
Q7: What is HTTP & HTTPs? Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Remember that guy?, he invented the World Wide Web in 1990 (It wasn’t a typo the last time).
Because computers are not very smart and are not capable of creative thinking and forming their own language and communication protocols, Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented HTTP as a protocol that defines how data packets are formatted and how servers respond to them.
Now for the the more complex definition, HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is the underlying protocol of the World Wide Web.
HTTPs is the same as HTTP except it’s more secure. The main/only difference between the two is that HTTPS uses TLS (SSL) to encrypt normal HTTP requests and responses. As a result, HTTPs is more secure.
Q8: What are HTTP verbs and what are their functions? HTTP verbs are commands or request methods used to communicate and make changes on web servers. HTTP verbs allow developers request, upload edit, delete connect with and modify for specific resources on servers.
Some frequently used HTTP verbs include: GET, POST, HEAD, PUT, DELETE, CONNECT, OPTIONS, TRACE and PATCH
Q9: What is SSL Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol that is used to provide end to end encryption and authentication between the client and the server which is done through the use of encryption and validation keys. This works by encrypting messages from both parties and decrypting them at the end point with keys which are only available to the receiver. SSL allows for secure and private communication between servers.
Q10: What is TCP? Transmission Control Protocol is a communication protocol that defines the how a network is established and how information is shared across networks. You can think of it as standards or rules that determine how connection on the web is setup and how data is shared on a network.
Q11: What is the role of the browser? Browsers allow us access the web and visit all the websites we uses everyday. Beyond displaying websites and facilitating downloads, browsers perform some other functions including communicating with DNS Servers to translate URLs to IP addresses and downloading keys to decrypt and verify SSL certificates.
Q12: What is Front-end development? Front-end development is the part of web development that deals with the part of the web or application that you can see and experience. That includes the text, styling, animations, images, functionalities and everything your browser displays. Front-end development is often described as the “client side” part of web development.
Q13: What is Back-end development? Back-end development is the part of web development that deals with server side of web development. Back-end developers focus on database management, user connections, and web architecture.
Q14: What is a database? A database is a structured collection of data, typically stored electronically on a computer. Similar to spreadsheets on Excel or Google Docs, web databases contain fields of information like username, passwords, email address, phone numbers status etc. Databases are used by websites to store and organize information so they can be retrieved and presented on command. Databases are useful because they allow us manage large data sets without having to manually edit every single change on the website.
Q15: What is DNS? Because websites and all their resources are saved on web servers and databases, browsers need a system of identifying which server is hosting a URL requested by a user. Domain Name System (DNS) translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources.
Q16: What is IP Address? Internet Protocol Addresses are unique numerical labels for devices, routers, servers and pretty much anything connected to the Internet. IP Address work like a name tag and is used for identification and pinpointing the location of any device on a network. There are 7 types of IP Addresses:
- Dynamic
- Static
- Public
- Private
- Shared
- Dedicated
- Loopback
Q17: What is Facebook’s IP Address Most websites have multiple (dynamic) IP Addresses. Facebook’s IP Address is 197.210.19.17:443 and 102.132.101.15:443. You can find IP Address for websites using Google Chrome Inspect tool by navigating to network, then remote addresses or by using websites like https://www.site24x7.com/
Q18: What is DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a network management protocol that assigns IP addresses to devices to enable them communicate on a network. This process of IP assignment begins when a device attempts to connect to a network. First it sends a DHCP discovery request to the DHCP servers and in turn the DHCP server responds with available IP addresses on the network, next, the device selects an IP addresses and sends a request to the DHCP server and finally the DHCP server acknowledges the request and completes the initiation.
Q19: What is API? Application Programming Interface APIs are connection interfaces that allow computers communicate, share and generate pre-programmed data. APIs provide a way for software to interact seamlessly with other software without the need to manually configure them to work together from the onset. A good example of an API is the embedded Facebook comments you see on websites which is only possible because Facebook provided an API for embedding Facebook comments in third party websites. APIs are used in all kinds of applications and websites to retrieve third party information like airline prices, weather, FX rate etc.
Q20: What are the major languages of the web? The three major languages of the web are:
- HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)
- and JavaScript
Q21: What are their functions: HTML is the standard language for structuring websites and is used to add different types of fonts, tables, lists, images and instructions on websites.
CSS is the used to style HTML and add values like colors, backgrounds, positioning, borders, padding, margins etc.
JavaScript is used to add interactivity and function to websites and enables them perform complex tasks like running searches, displaying animations, play audio and video, and interact with the backend servers.
