What Is the Web?

Every day you open dozens of web pages — portfolio sites, design inspiration, documentation, social feeds. But what is actually happening behind that first click? Understanding this will make you a better designer, because you will know why the web is built the way it is.

The browser

A browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge) is a program whose only job is to read files and draw them on screen. It reads a special kind of text file — an HTML file — and turns it into the visual page you see.

Think of a browser the way you think of a PDF reader. A PDF reader takes a .pdf file and renders it as a formatted document. A browser takes an .html file and renders it as a web page. The browser is just an extremely powerful renderer.

The server

Where do those HTML files live? On a server — a computer that is always switched on, always connected to the internet, and whose only job is to hand out files when asked.

When you type a web address and press Enter, your browser sends a polite request: “Please give me the file for this address.” The server finds the right file and sends it back. Your browser receives it and draws the page. The whole round trip usually takes less than a second.

Think of a server like a design asset library in the cloud. Your Figma file links to shared component files hosted somewhere central. When you open the file, Figma fetches those assets. A server works the same way — it is a central store of files your browser can fetch.

URLs — the address of a file

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is just an address. It tells your browser exactly where to find a file.

flowchart LR
  URL["https://example.com/about/team.html"]
  URL --> Protocol["protocol: https://"]
  URL --> Domain["domain: example.com"]
  URL --> Path["path to the file: /about/team.html"]

The parts of a URL

• Protocol (https://) — the “language” the browser and server use to talk. The s means the connection is encrypted (secure).
• Domain (example.com) — the name of the server, like a street address.
• Path (/about/team.html) — the specific file on that server, like a room number.

Links — how pages connect

A link (<a> in HTML) is an element that, when clicked, tells the browser to go fetch a different URL. That is the entire web: files that point to other files. The “web” in World Wide Web refers to this interconnected web of links.

HTMLCSS

<p>This is a paragraph with a <a href="https://www.example.com">link to another page</a>.</p> <p>Links are what connects all web pages together.</p>

Hover over the link in the preview. Notice how the cursor changes. That is the browser telling you “clicking here will take you somewhere.” This is behaviour built into the <a> element — you do not need to code it yourself.

💡 The web is just files

At its core, the web is nothing more than files on computers, connected by addresses. There is no magic. When you understand this, concepts like “hosting a website” become obvious — it just means putting your files on a server so other people’s browsers can fetch them.

What is a browser's primary job?

To write HTML files for you To read code files and draw them as a visual page To store your website files To design layouts automatically

What does a server do?

It styles the page with CSS It is a computer that stores files and sends them to browsers on request It is another word for a browser It runs JavaScript animations

In the URL https://example.com/about/team.html, what does /about/team.html represent?

The protocol The domain name The path to a specific file on the server The browser version

What HTML element creates a clickable link?

<link> <url> <a> <button>

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