Learning Web Design, 6th Edition

Chapter 2. How the Web Works

2

How the Web Works

In this chapter

An explanation of the web as it relates to the internet

The role of the server

The role of the browser

URLs and their components

The anatomy of a web page

I got started in in web design in early 1993—pretty close to the start of the web itself. That’s a roughly a third of a century ago (gasp!), but I still distinctly remember the first time I looked at a web page. It was difficult to tell where the information was coming from and how it all worked.

This chapter sorts out the pieces and introduces some important terminology. We’ll start with the big picture and work down to specifics.

Here is what you can expect to learn in this chapter:

• The difference between the internet and the web
• The role of the server and browser
• The structure of URLs (web page addresses)
• How HTML and style sheets work together
• How the browser communicates with the server when you go to a web page

The Internet Versus the Web

No, it’s not a battle to the death, just an opportunity to point out the distinction between two words that are often used interchangeably.

The internet is an international network of connected computers. No company owns the internet; it is a cooperative effort governed by a system of standards and rules. The purpose of connecting computers together, of course, is to share information. There are many ways information can be passed between computers, including via email (POP3/IMAP/SMTP), file transfer (FTP), ...