Section 2: How the Internet Works Flashcards
Web Browser
Ex: Google chrome
A software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web.
ISP
Internet Service Provider
Companies you pay so you can have the internet. They get requests from your URL and send that request off to DNS servers.
DNS Servers
Domain Name System
Essentially a phonebook that has a list of all URL’s (like Google.com) and has the IP addresses of them. It might not know Google.com personally, but does have the address! Sends off request back through the ISP, and back to the web browser (at this point you can’t see the webpage though…Not yet…Not until the IP address gets sent back to, for example, the Google servers. THEN you will be able to see the webpage contents it sends back such as HTML, CSS, and the Javascript!)
Traditionally, DNS Servers are provided by your ISP, but you can use a 3rd party DNS if you want to which might possibly improve your speeds and let you have other perks. Also, some routers are their own DNS servers, where they will receive a website IP address from your ISP DNS server and then store it and remember it for next time so it doesn’t have to use the ISP DNS server. It literally learns it and stores it every time you go to a new site!
IP Address
Internet Protocol Address
Ex: 172.217.7.23
a unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer
Server
Also called Name Server
A computer; can be a laptop, can be a pc, etc. Can be a lot of them in server farms or just one in a basement.
They contain software that knows how to send you files when you request them.
The Internet Backbone
We connect to internet via wifi or ethernet cable in home > wifi gives us internet through a router > router connected to a modem (dish on top of house) > Modem has connection to signal towers from far away which transmit the connection from one tower to another until it goes to the ISP building via a wire > ISP is connected to the internet backbone via cable.
The internet backbone are the cables that connect the world. These cables stretch across oceans and land (submarine cables at the bottom of the sea floor)…Yes, the internet backbone is literally physical cables that create a network that enables us to transfer files all over the world.
The internet therefore, is just a bunch of wires that are connecting computers all over the world allowing us to transfer files back and forth between the cables!
Software Engineer, Web Developer, etc main purpose?
To help the world communicate better through files and wires, connecting people to amazing creations and making that transfer of creations (files) quicker and more efficient.
You are literally bringing the world together in the most imaginative, efficient, and creative ways possible.
Traceroute
A way of tracing the journey of a website getting to your computer from the internet backbone.
Open command prompt and type:
Windows: tracert google.com
Mac: traceroute google.com
Each hop represents a signal tower, etc that your request went and “hopped” through to get the info/files and get back to your computer to show google.com!
3 ways to speed up Traceroute
- Location of server
- How many trips
- Size of files
Every time you are building an application on a website, you will be thinking about these things to have a good performing fast website.
Front End Developer
HTML, CSS, JavaScript + React
Works on the look and feel of a website, what people see at the surface.
Back End Developer
Server (Node.js, Express.js), and Database(PostgreSQL)
Works on the “behind the curtain” of a website, what people don’t see at the surface.
Full Stack Developer
A developer who is able to do both front and back end development. So, everything revolving around a web application you will be able to build.
