How the Web Works

The web is a system for sharing documents over a network. When you type a URL, your browser sends an HTTP request to a server, which responds with the resources — HTML, CSS, JavaScript — needed to render the page.

The Request-Response Cycle

Every interaction on the web follows the same pattern:

1. Your browser resolves the domain name (e.g., example.com) to an IP address via DNS.
2. The browser opens a TCP connection to that IP on port 443 (HTTPS).
3. A TLS handshake encrypts the connection.
4. The browser sends an HTTP GET request for the page.
5. The server responds with an HTML document.
6. The browser downloads linked CSS, JavaScript, and images.
7. The browser renders the page.

Key Abstractions

• HTTP is a stateless request-response protocol — each request is independent.
• URLs encode the scheme, host, path, and sometimes query parameters.
• Statelessness means the server does not remember previous requests unless you use cookies or tokens.
• Caching lets browsers and CDNs store responses to avoid redundant requests.

The web's simplicity — a client asks, a server responds — is what makes it scale globally. Every framework, library, and infrastructure decision builds on this foundation.