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codingstairs

Step 1

Step 1 — How the internet works

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Table of contents

When you type docs.example.org into your browser, four steps happen automatically.

  1. DNS lookup — domain name → IP address
  2. HTTP request — your browser asks port 443 of that IP for the page (HTTPS = encrypted HTTP)
  3. Response — the server returns HTML/CSS/JS plus data
  4. Render — the browser turns that into pixels on screen
nslookup docs.example.org
# → prints the IP address

Four words you'll use forever

  • URL — a single-line address like https://docs.example.org/learn/...
  • HTTP/HTTPS — the request/response protocol; HTTPS adds encryption
  • DNS — a distributed phonebook of names → IPs
  • Port — a numbered "window" into an IP (HTTP=80, HTTPS=443, dev server=3000…)

Try it

Open DevTools (F12) → Network tab → reload the page. Every request and response shows up. Click any one to see headers, body, and timing. Keeping this tab open habitually solves half of all bugs.

Going deeper

Next

Step 2 turns those HTML responses into pages with meaning.