INTERNET BASICS
o Internet – set of millions of computers worldwide connected into a network with the purpose of
exchanging data among users
o Internet Service Provider (ISP) – a company that provides Internet access for its users (TCom,
Carnet...)
o WWW - World Wide Web – one of the services on the Internet which we use to browse web
pages (set of HTML documents connected with hyperlinks)
o HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol – protocol (set of rules) that allows transmission of
information published on the Web
o URL – Uniform Resource Locator - Web address of a particular object (Web pages, images, or
Word or PDF document) published on the Internet
o FTP – File Transfer Protocol – protocol that allows data transfer between computers over the
Internet
o Hyperlink or link - part of the text or graphics on a web page; when we activate a hyperlink
(click on it), it takes us to another part within the same web page another website.
o Domain: - electronic identification on the Internet commercial (.com, .net, .biz) international,
non-commercial (.edu, .mil, .gov)
o Web browser software (program) which allows us to browse web pages o the most widely
used: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer.
Web Browser Definition:
A software application used to access information on the World Wide Web is called a Web
Browser. When a user requests some information, the web browser fetches the data from a web
server and then displays the webpage on the user’s screen.
Whenever we search for anything on the internet, the browser loads a web page written in
HTML, including text, links, images, and other items such as style sheets and JavaScript
functions. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari are examples of web
browsers.
Functions of Web Browser:
The main function is to retrieve information from the World Wide Web and making it available
for users
Visiting any website can be done using a web browser. When a URL is entered in a browser, the
web server takes us to that website
To run Java applets and flash content, plugins are available on the web browser
It makes Internet surfing easy as once we reach a website we can easily check the hyperlinks and
get more and more useful data online
Browsers user internal cache which gets stored and the user can open the same webpage time and
again without losing extra data
Multiple webpages can be opened at the same time on a web browser
Options like back, forward, reload, stop reload, home, etc. are available on these web browsers,
which make using them easy and convenient.
HISTORY OF AWEB BROWSER:
Types of Web Browser
1. WorldWideWeb
The first web browser ever
Launched in 1990
It was later named “Nexus” to avoid any confusion with the World Wide Web
Had the very basic features and less interactive in terms of graphical interface
Did not have the feature of bookmark
2. Mosaic
It was launched in 1993
The second web browser which was launched
Had a better graphical interface. Images, text and graphics could all be integrated
It was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications
The team which was responsible for creating Mosaic was lead by Marc Andreessen
It was named “the world’s first popular browser”
3. Netscape Navigator
It was released in 1994
In the 1990s, it was the dominant browser in terms of usage share
More versions of this browser were launched by Netscape
It had an advanced licensing scheme and allowed free usage for non-commercial purposes
4. Internet Explorer
It was launched in 1995 by Microsoft
By 2003, it has attained almost 95% of usage share and had become the most popular browsers of
all
Close to 10 versions of Internet Explorer were released by Microsoft and were updated gradually
It was included in the Microsoft Windows operating system
In 2015, it was replaced with “Microsoft Edge”, as it became the default browser on Windows 10
5. Firefox
It was introduced in 2002 and was developed by Mozilla Foundation
Firefox overtook the usage share from Internet Explorer and became the dominant browser during
2003-04
Location-aware browsing was made available with Firefox
This browser was also made available for mobile phones, tablets, etc.
6. Google Chrome
It was launched in 2008 by Google
It is a cross-platform web browser
Multiple features from old browsers were amalgamated to form better and newer features
To save computers from malware, Google developed the ad-blocking feature to keep the user data
safe and secure.
Browser Vendor
Internet Explorer Microsoft
Google Chrome Google
Mozilla Firefox Mozilla
Netscape Navigator Netscape Communications Corp.
Opera Opera Software
Safari Apple
Sea Monkey Mozilla Foundation
K-meleon K-meleon
ARCHITECTURE:
There are a lot of web browsers available in the market. All of them interpret and display information on
the screen however their capabilities and structure varies depending upon implementation. But the most
basic component that all web browsers must exhibit is listed below:
Controller/Dispatcher
Interpreter
Client Programs
Controller works as a control unit in CPU. It takes input from the keyboard or mouse, interpret it and
make other services to work on the basis of input it receives.
Interpreter receives the information from the controller and execute the instruction line by line. Some
interpreter are mandatory while some are optional For example, HTML interpreter program is mandatory
and java interpreter is optional.
Client Program describes the specific protocol that will be used to access a particular service. Following
are the client programs tat are commonly used:
HTTP
SMTP
FTP
NNTP
POP
Features of Web Browser:
1. Refresh button: Refresh button allows the website to reload the contents of the web pages. Most
of the web browsers store local copies of visited pages to enhance the performance by using a
caching mechanism. Sometimes, it stops you from seeing the updated information; in this case,
by clicking on the refresh button, you can see the updated information.
2. Stop button: It is used to cancel the communication of the web browser with the server and stops
loading the page content. For example, if any malicious site enters the browser accidentally, it
helps to save from it by clicking on the stop button.
3. Home button: It provides users the option to bring up the predefined home page of the website.
4. Web address bar: It allows the users to enter a web address in the address bar and visit the
website.
5. Tabbed browsing: It provides users the option to open multiple websites on a single window. It
helps users to read different websites at the same time. For example, when you search for
anything on the browser, it provides you a list of search results for your query. You can open all
the results by right-clicking on each link, staying on the same page.
6. Bookmarks: It allows the users to select particular website to save it for the later retrieval of
information, which is predefined by the users.
Component of a Web browser
1. User Interface: The user interface is an area where the user can use several options like address
bar, back and forward button, menu, bookmarking, and many other options to interact with the
browser.
2. Browser Engine: It connects the UI (User Interface) and the rendering engine as a bridge. It
queries and manipulates the rendering engine based on inputs from several user interfaces.
3. Rendering Engine: It is responsible for displaying the requested content on the browser screen.
It translates the HTML, XML files, and images, which are formatted by using the CSS. It
generates the layout of the content and displays it on the browser screen. Although it can also
display the other types of content by using different types of plugins or extensions.
4. Networking: It retrieves the URLs by using internet protocols like HTTP or FTP. It is
responsible for maintaining all aspects of Internet communication and security.
5. JavaScript Interpreter: As the name suggests, JavaScript Interpreter translates and executes the
JavaScript code, which is included in a website. The translated results are sent to the rendering
engine to display results on the device screen.
6. UI Backend: It is used to draw basic combo boxes and Windows (widgets). It specifies a generic
interface, which is not platform-specific.
7. Data Storage: The data storage is a persistence layer that is used by the browser to store all sorts
of information locally, like cookies. It is a database stored on the local drive of your computer
where the browser is installed. It handles user data like cache, bookmarks, cookies, and
preferences.
