FAQ: Overview of the Internet - Browsers and Servers

This community-built FAQ covers the “Browsers and Servers” exercise from the lesson “Overview of the Internet”.

Paths and Courses
This exercise can be found in the following Codecademy content:

Code Foundations

FAQs on the exercise Browsers and Servers

There are currently no frequently asked questions associated with this exercise – that’s where you come in! You can contribute to this section by offering your own questions, answers, or clarifications on this exercise. Ask or answer a question by clicking reply (reply) below.

If you’ve had an “aha” moment about the concepts, formatting, syntax, or anything else with this exercise, consider sharing those insights! Teaching others and answering their questions is one of the best ways to learn and stay sharp.

Join the Discussion. Help a fellow learner on their journey.

Ask or answer a question about this exercise by clicking reply (reply) below!

Agree with a comment or answer? Like (like) to up-vote the contribution!

Need broader help or resources? Head here.

Looking for motivation to keep learning? Join our wider discussions.

Learn more about how to use this guide.

Found a bug? Report it!

Have a question about your account or billing? Reach out to our customer support team!

None of the above? Find out where to ask other questions here!

is there a transcription for this video? I see there is no subtitles option on the video.

1 Like

No transcription exists to my knowledge, but since I had some time I took it upon myself to provide one…

Let’s talk about browsers and servers. This video will teach you about their purpose and how they contribute to the giant network that we know as the internet.

What happens when you request a website in your browser?

Well, every time you type a web address and press Enter a series of things happen in the few seconds it takes for the website to appear on your screen.

Over recent decades there have been many web browsers. Some of the most popular today are, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer and Opera.

All of these browsers serve the same basic purpose to display websites for you to read and interact with. But just how do they do this?

First the browser takes the web address you provided and sends the request to a server across internet for the files that make up the web site.

The contacted server is dedicated to holding the website’s files. It may even be thousands of miles away from you and your device. Once the server receives the request it contains logic for processing the request and identifying the files and data that the client has specified. It responds to the browser’s request with the necessary files.

This is the process that allows the browser to display website files to you, and it happens in the few seconds it takes for websites to load on your device screen.

You may be asking yourself, “What is a server?”

A server is a specialized computer connected to a network. The role of this computer is to listen for requests from network devices and send back data. Servers provide or serve up resources like website files, data and assets like images or video, along with other cool things. Servers are not like the computers you may be used to. They are focused on data storage and retrieval so they have no monitors or keyboards. A server will need lots of computing power to serve up websites that reach thousands or even millions of users.

Next we need to understand how the browsers and servers understand each other. The internet follows protocols or rules that govern the format of data sent over the internet or other networks. Browsers and servers communicate with one another using the internet protocol known as HTTP. You’ve seen this before. HTTP, or HyperText Transfer Protocol allows for data transfer. When you see the S at the end of HTTP the data is being transfered securely.

An important part of the HyperText Transfer Protocol is that each request has a request method that specifies the type of request being made. For example, if the user is just asking to fetch a resource this is specified as a GET request. If a user is sending data to the server for example, such as submitting information via a form, this is specified as a POST request.

When the server sends back a response it sends a status code that accompanies the requested resource. You might be familiar with seeing 404 error messages when browsing the internet. This is an HTTP response code that indicates that the requested content wasn’t found. HTTP provides reliable structure to the interplay between the client and the server.

Let’s review what we learned today. There are three important things to remember:

  1. The browser sends requests to the server and displays or renders website files.

  2. The server stores website files and sends them to the web browser upon request.

  3. HTTP, or HyperText Transfer Protocol is a standardized set of rules for how browsers and servers transfer data to one another.

transcribed by mtf

Please play the video again and report any errors or omissions.

34 Likes

thank you so much mtf!! appreciate it a lot.

2 Likes

With the Codecaemy updating their courses this month, your transcription is much appreciated. Thanks for all you do to help ease our path!

4 Likes

Hey guys, I was just wondering about DNS servers. When watching the video I was wondering where DNS Servers came in. I had made 1 website in the past, and remembered something about DNS.

Did they just simplify it in the video? Your computer (client) makes a request, then, how does the request know which server to go to? How does it know which server out there holds the data that you are trying to request?

Does the DNS server do this? And if so, who runs the DNS servers? Are those run by hosts like godaddy etc? Or by someone unattached? Like the government or something?

Thank you for reading <3

1 Like

A Domain Name System server has a single purpose… resolve a domain name to a namespace. When we establish a hosting account the host issues a request to all DNS servers on the web to include this new domain in their (the host’s) namespace registry. This is commonly referred to as propagation. It is what exposes our domain to the internet.

9 Likes

I learned a few days ago you can easily activate on chrome the live caption option for any video. You must access the settings options of your chrome browser. Here’s a youtube video that explains how to do it! It’s pretty simple! How to Turn On Live Captions in Google Chrome - 2021 - YouTube

2 Likes

But how does the browser actually connect to the server? There are no wires connecting my computer to the server, and how does it browser request know where to go to find the correct server?

2 Likes
1 Like

“Some of the most popular [browsers] today include…Internet Explorer.”
Yikes.

2 Likes

Usage share of web browsers - Wikipedia

I’m surprised to see that FF is only 1 point ahead of Edge. Needless, together they make up less than 7 % of the market share.

When two computers need to communicate, you have to link them, either physically (usually with an Ethernet cable) or wirelessly (for example with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth systems). All modern computers can sustain any of those connections.

For more on this : [How does the Internet work? - Learn web development | MDN](https://How does the Internet work?)

1 Like

The video describes POST, PUT and DELETE requests. Why is there a need for PUT? Can’t DELETE and POST be used to replace current data with uploaded content?

1 Like

Thank you soooo much :wink:

1 Like

I just wanted to try this forum, my first day learning how to become a developer. Thank you

Thank u so much, it help a lot

1 Like

7% is a lot and must be considered always

1 Like

What sets of rules and processes that HTTPS use? How does the request-response system work?

I think the TCP helps in establishing a handshake between the local machine and the right server. Correct me if I am wrong, I’m saying this from what I learnt in the last slide.