How does it work?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a web browser as "a computer program used for accessing sites or information on a network (such as the World Wide Web)." This is a simple yet accurate description. A web browser talks to a server and asks it for the pages you want to see.
How a Browser Retrieves a Web Page? The browser application retrieves (or fetches) code, usually written in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and other computer languages, from a web server. Then, it interprets this code and displays it as a web page for you to view. In most cases, user interaction is needed to tell the browser what website or specific web page you want to see. Using the browser address bar is one way to do this.
Web browsers come in many different flavors, each with their own nuances. The best-known ones are free, and each has options governing privacy, security, interface, shortcuts, and other variables. The main reason a person uses any browser is the same: to view web pages on the internet, similar to the way you see this article.
These are the most popular web browsers:
Browser
Alternatively called a web browser or Internet browser, a browser is a software program to present and explore content on the World Wide Web. These pieces of content, including pictures, videos, and web pages, are connected using hyperlinks and classified with URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers). This page is an example of a web page that can be viewed using a browser.
There have been many different web browsers that have come and gone over the years. The first, named WorldWideWeb (later changed to Nexus), was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990. However, the first graphical browser and widely used browser that help bring popularity to the Internet was NCSA Mosaic.
List of current Internet browsers:
- Google Chrome logo icon Google Chrome - Chrome help
- Microsoft Edge logo icon Microsoft Edge - Edge help
- Apple Safari logo icon Apple Safari - Safari help
- Mozilla Firefox logo icon Mozilla Firefox - Firefox help
- Opera logo icon Opera - Opera help
Web Browsers
A web browser is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. In 2020, an estimated 4.9 billion people have used a browser. The most used browser is Google Chrome, with a 65% global market share on all devices, followed by Safari with 18%.
A web browser is not the same thing as a search engine, though the two are often confused. A search engine is a website that provides links to other websites. However, to connect to a website's server and display its web pages, a user must have a web browser installed. In some technical contexts, browsers are referred to as user agents.
The purpose of a web browser is to fetch content from the World Wide Web or from local storage and display it on a user's device. This process begins when the user inputs a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), such as https://en.wikipedia.org/, into the browser. Virtually all URLs are retrieved using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a set of rules for the transfer of data. If the URL uses the secure mode of HTTP (HTTPS), the connection between the browser and the web server is encrypted for the purposes of communications security and information privacy.
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