General and Web Programming Fundamentals
  • Introduction
  • Program creation and design
    • Program design
      • Algorithms
      • Pseudocode
    • Programming conventions
    • Writing programs
      • Source code editors
      • Integrated Development Environments
      • Code repositories/Version control
      • Compilers/Interpreters
  • Programming Fundamentals
    • Operators
      • Arithmetic
      • Logical
      • Assignment
    • Constants and Variables
    • Datatypes
      • Primitive Datatypes
        • Character
        • Integer
        • Boolean
        • Floating point
        • Nothing (Null)
      • Composite Datatypes
        • Arrays
        • Strings
        • Classes
        • Structs
      • Literals
    • Data structures
      • Lists
      • Queues
      • Stacks
      • Map/dictionary
      • Trees
      • Graphs
    • Control structures
      • Selection (Conditional)
        • If/Else
        • Ternary
        • Switch
      • Iteration (Loops)
        • For loops
        • While loops
        • Do-While loops
        • For-Each loops
    • Functions
      • Parameters and arguments
      • Lambda expressions
      • Higher Order Functions
    • Space and Time
    • Scope
    • Standard libraries
  • Programming Paradigms
    • Procedural (Imperative) Programming
    • Object-oriented programming
    • Functional Programming
    • Declarative Programming
    • Event Driven programming
  • Programming Languages
    • Short history of programming
    • Low-level programming languages
    • High-level programming languages
  • Web Development
    • What is the web?
      • Web browsers (clients)
      • Webservers (serving web pages)
      • W3C
    • Markup languages
      • HTML
        • HTML Tags
      • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
        • CSS Properties
      • XML
      • Markdown
    • Scripting Languages
      • JavaScript
      • TypeScript
    • JSON
    • JavaScript Frameworks
  • Acknowledgements
    • About the author(s)
  • License
Powered by GitBook
On this page

Was this helpful?

Export as PDF
  1. Web Development
  2. What is the web?

Web browsers (clients)

What are Web Browsers?

Web browsers are software applications that enable users to access and navigate the World Wide Web. They work by requesting web pages from the Internet, interpreting the coding language (such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) in which these pages are written, and then displaying them on the user's device. This process allows users to view, interact with, and even run web applications entirely through the browser.

How Do Web Browsers Work?

  1. User Input: The process starts with the user entering a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or conducting a search query.

  2. Request: The browser sends a request to the server where the website is hosted, using the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or HTTPS (HTTP Secure).

  3. Response: The server responds by sending back the requested web page.

  4. Rendering: The browser's rendering engine then interprets the code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and renders the webpage on the screen.

Rendering Engines

  • Gecko: Firefox uses this engine.

  • Blink: Used by Chrome and Opera.

  • WebKit: Safari's engine. Also, Blink originated as a fork of WebKit.

Most Popular and Common Web Browsers

  • Google Chrome: Known for its speed and efficiency, Chrome is the most popular browser globally.

  • Mozilla Firefox: Renowned for its privacy features, Firefox is a favorite among users concerned about security.

  • Safari: Apple's own browser, optimized for Mac and iOS devices, offering a seamless experience across Apple devices.

  • Microsoft Edge: The successor to Internet Explorer, Edge is designed for Windows 10 and later versions, offering integration with Microsoft's services.

  • Opera: Not as widely used as the others, but it innovates with features like a built-in VPN and ad blocker.

PreviousWhat is the web?NextWebservers (serving web pages)

Last updated 1 year ago

Was this helpful?