Computer Networks · Class 12 · Web Services · Websites, Browsers and Servers
networksweb services⏱️ 5 min read
Web Browser
🎬 This chapter has a 12:38 video: Web Services →Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari: you have almost certainly used one of them today. They look different, but they all do the same four jobs.
1What a web browser is
Web browser
A web browser is a software application that is used to view web pages. It requests web pages from web servers on the Internet and displays them — text, pictures, audio, video and hyperlinks to move from one page to another.
Commonly used browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Opera. In the browser and server conversation of HTTP, the browser is the client.
What a browser does
Pick any browser: the jobs are the same. Drag sideways to turn.
What browsers do today, beyond the four jobs
Modern browsers also run interactive pages, keep your settings and history, use encryption (HTTPS) for security, store cookies (small bits of data a site saves in your browser), and can be extended with add-ons.
A correction to NCERT's side note
NCERT’s Informatics Practices book says Mosaic was the first web browser. The first browser was written by Tim Berners-Lee himself in 1990, called WorldWideWeb. Mosaic (1993), from NCSA, was the first popular browser that showed pictures along with text.
2From the board papers
1
What is a web browser? Write the names of any two commonly used web browsers.CBSE board exam 2022 (Term 2) · “Name any two web browsers”, board exam 2024
2 marks▶Show the answer
A web browser is a software application used to access and view web pages on the World Wide Web. Examples: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.
The difference between a web browser and a web server, which CBSE also asks, is on the Web Server page.
3Check yourself
Quick Check
Which of these is a web browser?
Quick Check
The browser receives a page's HTML. What does it do with it?