Web Browser Essentials

Web Browser Definition

• A web browser is a software application used to retrieve, display, and navigate information resources on the internet, commonly called a browser

Web Browser Applications

• The most common web browser application is used to display HTML documents, but can also include PDFs, images, and other web resources
• Users connect to a specific web resource via a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)
• The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) maintains the standards for HTML and CSS that dictate how web browsers interpret and display web content

Browser Components

• User Interface: Features like the address bar, back/forward buttons, bookmarking menus, etc.
• Browser Engine: Acts as the intermediary between the user interface and the rendering engine.
• Rendering Engine: Parses and displays the requested content; for instance, it interprets HTML and CSS to render a web page.
• Networking: Handles network communications, such as HTTP requests, using platform-independent interfaces.
• UI Backend: Responsible for drawing basic widgets, like combo boxes and windows, using a platform-independent interface.
• JavaScript Interpreter: Executes JavaScript code.
• Data Storage: Handles local data persistence, such as cookies, as well as storage mechanisms like localStorage, IndexedDB, WebSQL, and FileSystem.

Browser History

• WorldWideWeb: The first web browser, created by Tim Berners Lee in 1990.
• Mosaic: Introduced in 1993, with the added functionality of displaying images and a new graphical user interface.
• Netscape Navigator: Launched in 1994 by Marc Andreessen.
• Internet Explorer: Released in 1995 by Microsoft.
• Mozilla Firefox: Introduced in 2002.
• Safari: Launched by Apple in 2003.
• Chrome: Released by Google in 2008, one of the most widely used web browsers globally.

Basic Parts of Web Browsers

• Address Bar: Displays the URL or web address.
• Title Bar: Shows the title of the currently displayed web page.
• Menu Bar: Provides access to various menus for quick file access.
• Status Bar: Located at the bottom of the browser window, it displays information about the current activity, such as loading speed or the URL of the element the mouse hovers over.
• Display Window: The area where the web page content is displayed.
• Scroll Bars: Located on the right side of the display window, they allow navigation of the web page content when it exceeds the display window size.

Customization and Extensions

• Chrome Extensions: Small programs installed into Google Chrome that can be used to modify the browser's functionality, adding new features or changing existing behavior.
• Examples include:
  • Ad-blocking
  • To-do list and note-taking
  • Password management
  • Privacy and security enhancements