When you browse the internet, have you ever thought about what’s going on behind the scenes? How do you get to your favorite web page? How does the server know what data to send to you? But above all, how does all this work? The web, this gigantic universe which has revolutionized our world, nevertheless remains a mystery for many of us. Don’t panic, we will explain all this to you in detail.
From your web browser to the server
When you type an address into your web browser (whether Google Chrome or another), the first thing that happens is a request from your browser to a server. This is the principle of client server. Your browser, the client, requests information from the server.
This is where protocol comes in. This is a set of rules that determine how data is exchanged between your browser and the server. The best known of these is HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), but there are others such as HTTPS, which adds a layer of security.
The server, once the request is received, will search for the files correspondents. These can be html files, but also images, videos, scripts… All this data is then sent back to your browser.
How the web browser displays a web page
Your browser therefore receives a multitude of data from the server, but how does it display it in the form of Web page ?
This is the role of your browser’s rendering engine. This will read the received files, interpret them and convert them into a visible web page. If they are html files, the rendering engine will convert them into DOM (Document Object Model), a structured representation of the page. For images, videos or scripts, the rendering engine will also interpret them and place them in the right place on the page.
Please note that each browser has its own rendering engine, which can sometimes cause differences in the display of the same page.
Web servers and web hosting
THE web servers therefore play an important role in the functioning of the web. But where are they and how do they work?
A web server is a computer that stores website files and is permanently connected to the internet. It can be located anywhere in the world. When a request comes to it, it processes it and returns the requested data.
L’web hosting is the service that allows these files to be stored on a server and accessible via the internet. There are many web hosting providers, with varied offers in terms of storage capacity, bandwidth, security…
The role of the domain name
Finally, the last element to understand in the functioning of the web is the domain name. You probably know it best as the URL you type into your browser.
THE domain name is actually the address of a website on the internet. It allows your browser to find the server on which the site you want to visit is hosted.
To summarize, the web therefore works thanks to a series of exchanges between your browser and a server, all orchestrated by protocols and made possible by web hosting and the domain name.
You will have understood, the web is not just a simple digital spider’s web, but an incredible ballet orchestrated between browsers, servers, protocols, hosts and domain names. Each click on a link, each URL entry, each photo or video loaded is the result of a host of interactions invisible to our eyes, but essential to our daily navigation. So the next time you open your browser, smile: you are not browsing alone, but accompanied by a whole world of technology!
FAQs
What is the web and how does it work?
The web, or World Wide Web, is a system of hypertext documents accessible via the Internet. It works using communication protocols, mainly HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). When a user enters a URL into their browser, a request is sent to a web server, which then returns the requested content to be displayed in the browser.
What is the difference between the Internet and the web?
The Internet is a global network of interconnected networks that use the TCP/IP protocol to communicate. The web, on the other hand, is a service that operates over the Internet by allowing access to documents and resources through the HTTP protocol. In short, the web is one of the many applications that use the Internet.
How are websites hosted?
Websites are hosted on web servers, which are computers specially configured to store website files and make them accessible to users over the Internet. These servers can be managed by companies specializing in web hosting or by individuals.
What is a web browser and what is its role?
A web browser is software that allows users to access and view documents on the web. It interprets the HTML code of web pages and displays the content in a way that users can understand. Common browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
How do search engines find web pages?
Search engines use programs called “robots” or “crawlers” to crawl the web and index pages. These bots follow links from page to page, collecting information about the content of each page. Search engines then use this information to respond to user queries by displaying relevant results.
