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Beginner The Odin Project • foundations

How Does the Web Work

Lesson Overview

This section contains a general overview of topics that you will learn in this lesson.

Introduction

Before you can understand how to program the web, you need a more rigorous understanding of the web itself than you likely have now. These concepts provide a more holistic understanding of the ecosystem in which you will be working and will enable you to talk intelligently with other developers about your work.

Lesson overview

This section contains a general overview of topics that you will learn in this lesson.

  • Describe what the internet is.
  • Describe what packets are and how they are used to transfer data.
  • Understand the differences between a web page, web server, web browser and search engine.
  • Briefly explain what a client is.
  • Briefly explain what a server is.
  • Explain what IP addresses are.
  • Explain what DNS servers are.

Assignment

  1. Watch this BBC short for an overview of how the internet works.
  2. Read this Mozilla article on “How does the internet work?”.
  3. Watch How the Internet Works in 5 Minutes.
  4. Read up on the differences between a web page, a web server, and a search engine.
  5. Watch this Google short explaining what a web browser is. Then, use this site to find out your current web browser and version.
  6. Read about how different parts of the web interact with each other and read this MDN article about how a DNS request works. Alternatively, here is a video about how a DNS request works.

Knowledge check

The following questions are an opportunity to reflect on key topics in this lesson. If you can’t answer a question, click on it to review the material, but keep in mind you are not expected to memorize or master this knowledge.