Web browser function and working explained
Every day we use the internet in different forms either through an app or via laptops and desktops. In order to interact with the internet, we need a software i.e. a web browser. The web browser is very crucial while using the internet.
All the interactions humans do with the internet is through the web browser. It is nothing but a software application that retrieves information from the server via a unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Everything on the internet including photos, text, and videos have unique URL’s that help browsers to locate the information and retrieve it when the user demands it.
Many times people are confused with search engines and browsers but that is not the case. The search engine is nothing but a website which you open thru’ your web browser. The search engine gives answers to your query but to access the search engine you first need a browser in place.
History of Browser
The first browser was the WorldWideWeb and it was invented by Sir Tim-Berners Lee in 1990. However, the world’s first most popular browser was Mosaic. It was released in 1993 and had a very good graphical user interface. Thus, the web became accessible than ever before to the common man.
Furthermore, the Mosaic team came together and released a new web browser called Netscape Navigator. At that time, the internet business was in a big boom; making the ‘Netscape Navigator’ immensely popular. In fact, the release of this browser initiated the Internet boom of the 1990s.
After the early surge, the next entrant was the ‘Internet Explorer’. It had a very dominant market-share at that time and tough competition with Netscape. Later, Netscape became ‘Firefox’ by Mozilla Foundation. Then came the ‘Safari’ web browser from Apple in 2003.
The last entrant in the browser market was Chrome in 2012 and it became a huge success on the Internet. This browser steadily captured the market-share of IE and it remains dominant till date. The chrome has a 65-68% average share in the market.
How do browsers work?
The modern-day browser is immensely capable of processing HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The spread of broadband and fiber optic internet connection to every home brought more capabilities in browsers. Now, you can easily stream an entire movie on the web browser conveniently.
The main function of the web browser is to fetch the information from the server and show it to the user in a human-understandable format. The process starts when the user types in the URL in the address bar of the web browser. In general, all URL’s on the internet begin with HTTP: or HTTPS:. The term ‘HTTP’ means hypertext transfer protocol while the ‘s’ means all the data moves through a secured layer on the internet.
Furthermore, the browser then sends the URL to the DNS (Domain Name Server) which then identifies the location of the server and sends information back to the browser. Once the web browser retrieves the information, it starts showing it to the user.
The information may contain text, videos, photos, and other links. Every link has a unique URL. By clicking on the link, the user can navigate to another resource on the internet. Thus, the entire process of retrieving and showcasing information to the user begins again.
Features of web browser
The modern web browsers have numerous features including bookmarks, extensions, add-ons, and private browsing. The user can open a new window to access another information or s/he can open a new tab in the same window. You can refresh or reload the entire page by the click of a button.
In addition, back and forward buttons help you to quickly navigate through web pages. The home button can navigate users to predefined URL and stop button can stop loading the web page. Furthermore, in the address bar, you can type in the URL. In the modern browser, the address bar comes with a merged search engine. So, when you type in the address bar it gives relevant results directly thru’ the search engine.
In conclusion, the browsers are increasingly robust and in the future, could replace the operating system on our computers. You could simply work from anywhere thru’ cloud computing and access your computer from anywhere thru’ browsers.
